Greig Leach

Unfortunately, a big part of Paris Roubaix is the crashes. Today seem to have a large share even before the riders hit the pave. Here the crash happened near the front of the peloton, leaving riders plowing into those already on the ground or riding out into the grass (and the spectators) in hopes of staying in contact with the front end of the peloton. Ignatas Knonvalovas (Groupama-FDJ), the Champion of Lithuania was one of those who went off of the bike, but other than his bike needing a little attention he was good to go. Both Hector Carretero (Movistar) and Boy Von Poppel (Trek-Segafredo) were able to get stopped, but others riding for both Mitchelton-Scott and Bahrain-Merida, weren't so fortunate. I don't make it a point to focus on the crashes, I would rather celebrate the athletism and grit of the race. It may be that I have raced and I know just how much it hurts to bounce off of the pavement. Fortunately for me, I have never crashed on a rough section of pave!