Greig Leach

It was a brilliant sprint that took Alison Jackson (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) to the victory on the velodrome in Roubaix. She becomes the first Canadian to win either the men’s or the women’s Paris Roubaix and is only the third woman to win the now three year old women’s edition. Marron Borras (St Michel-Mavic-Auber93) opened the sprint but faded to fifth. It was Katia Ragusa (LIV Racing TeqFind) in second followed by Martha Truyen (Fenix-Deceuninck) grabbing the last step of the podium. Just out of the frame, you can see the arm of Eugenia Duval (FDJ-Suez) who finished fourth on the day. They collectively held off the peloton of favorites by twelve seconds, marking that rare occasion in professional cycling when the early break away actually wins the day. It was Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) who won the best of the rest sprint. A small consolation to the woman who had targeted this race to add to her rather exceptional spring campaign.