‘I was crying and screaming!’ – Sonny Colbrelli on that mud-soaked day at Paris-Roubaix

“It sinks in every morning when I see the cobble on the table, staring at me.” The reigning men's Paris-Roubaix champion, Sonny Colbrelli, will not be on the startline in Compiegne on Sunday to defend his title. The Bahrain-Victorious rider suffered a cardiac arrest after crossing the line in the opening stage He subsequently underwent clinical cardiovascular evaluation, where he was diagnosed with a cardiac arrhythmia and was fitted with a “life-saving” subcutaneous defibrillator. Ad/> Colbrelli may never race again, let alone win.

If his Hell of the North victory does turn out to be his last, what a way to close out a career. No one will be able to take that precious piece of pave away from him. Paris — RoubaixParis-Roubaix 2022: Can Van Aert take Van der Poel down?19 HOURS AGO Nor his memories of the day itself, which he shared this week in the latest episode of The Cycling Show, which is available to watch now on discovery+.

Colbrelli won a mud-soaked edition from a three-way duel with Florian Vermeersch and Mathieu van der Poel to spark one of the most emotional celebrations the sport has ever seen. “I was really relaxed. I wasn’t thinking about anything.

All I thought was to get some experience out of it, as it was my first Paris-Roubaix. Then when I saw the weather, the women’s race the day before with all those crashes, I just thought I was going to crash at least a couple of times,” he recalls. Despite coming close, and once having to put his foot down to steady himself on a slippery stone verge, Colbrelli managed to stay upright.