Paris - Roubaix 2018: Sagan bests Dillier in two up sprint

The riders have to endure 54.5 kilometres of pavé in Paris-Roubaix. Which is more than one fifth of the total amount of kilometres. Peter Sagan wins the race after a long range attack. He joins early attacker Silvan Dillier to outgun him on the Roubaix Velodrome. Niki Terpstra finishes in third. (Slideshow route/profile)

Results 2018 Paris-Roubaix

1. Peter Sagan (svk)
2. Silvan Dillier (swi) s.t.
3. Niki Terpstra (nld) + 0.57
4. Greg Van Avermaet (bel) + 1.34
5. Jasper Stuyven (bel) s.t.
6. Sep Vanmarcke (bel) s.t.
7. Nils Politt (ger) + 2.31
8. Taylor Phinney (usa) s.t.
9. Zdenek Stybar (cze) s.t.
10. Jens Debusschere (bel) s.t.

Race report
Jelle Wallays and Ludovic Robeet open up a gap after 35 kms, while Marc Soler, Silvan Dillier, Jimmy Duquennoy and Sven Erik Bystrøm chase them down. Gatis Smukulis, Jay Thomson and Geoffrey Soupe also bridge across. They put more than 8 minutes into the peloton.

When the leaders hit the eleventh stretch of pavé, Trouée d’Arenberg, the gap has fallen to 2’35”. The main group is down to some fifty riders. Mike Teunissen and Philippe Gilbert distance the peloton on the cobbles.

Wallays, Soler, Bystrøm and Dillier open up a gap on the Trouée. Teunissen and Gilbert leave the sobbles 2 minutes after the leader, while Smukulis and Robeet shortly rejoin the front group. Nils Politt tracks the two chasers down, yet they are brought back after the thirteenth stretch of pavé. Then Zdenek Stybar takes off, but he is caught at the cobbles near Orchies.

With 54 kms to go Peter Sagan strikes and he joins the remains of the front group – Wallays, Bystrøm, Dillier – on the eighteenth stretch of pavé. Jasper Stuyven and Wout van Aert go after them.

The leaders enter Mons-en-Pévèle 20 seconds ahead of the chasing duo with the main group another 25 seconds further back. Bystrøm drops at these cobbles from hell and Niki Terpstra and Sep Vanmarcke leave the peloton behind. Stijn Vandenbergh, Greg Van Avermaet, Taylor Phinney and Philippe Gilbert hook on and they gobble up Van Aert and Stuyven. Then Gilbert and Vandenbergh lose contact, while Jens Debusschere does the opposite – he rejoins the chasers.

On the 23th stretch of pavé Wallays is dropped when the chasers are 1 minute down on the race-lead.

Sagan and Dillier leave Carrefour de l’Arbre with a steady lead of 1 minute. Terpstra, Vanmarcke, Van Avermaet and Stuyven are the last chasers.

Terpstra leaves the others behind in the finale, but he doesn’t bridge across. Sagan outsprints Dillier in the Roubaix Velodrome, while the Dutchman finishes in third.