Paris-Roubaix: Van Baarle takes victory as Lampaert collides with spectator
Dutchman Dylan van Baarle has won the gruelling Paris-Roubaix one-day classic, an event that saw Yves Lampaert’s chances of a podium place ended in the closing kilometres after a bizarre collision with a roadside spectator.
Van Baarle, riding for Ineos Grenadiers, and second in the Tour of Flanders two weeks ago, emerged victorious again in the Vélodrome André-Petrieux velodrome at the end of the 257.2km ride from Compiègne. His victory came at a record average speed of 45.79kph (28.45mph), and he beat Belgium’s Wout van Aert of Jumbo-Visma into second place, 1min 47sec behind, on his return to competitive action after a bout of Covid-19. Stefan Küng of Switzerland and Groupama-FDJ came home third, given the same time.
Lampaert, of the Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team, had been firmly in contention for a podium place with 8km remaining but endured a heavy fall after clipping the hand of a spectator who was clapping next to the cobbled surface. The Belgian rider tried vainly to keep his balance but his bike flipped and he went down hard, though he appeared to escape serious injury and managed to get back on his bike, eventually finishing 10th, 2min 59sec down on Van Baarle.
Tom Devriendt (Intermarché–Wanty–Gobert Matériaux) and Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Victorious) were outkicked at the finish, finishing fourth and fifth.
After breaking 19km from the finish, Van Baale shook his head in disbelief as he reached the velodrome for the last 750 metres and later admitted he had not realised how effective his effort had been: “I could not believe it when I went on to the velodrome. I looked on the other side to see if there were other guys but it was just me.” He became the first Dutch winner since Niki Terpstra in 2014.
Ineos split the