Lisa Brennauer just missed a success for the history books at the historic women’s premiere of the classic Paris-Roubaix bike. The track Olympic champion took fourth place in the race over the legendary cobblestones of the “Hell of the North” on Saturday.
“It was very slippery, there was a lot of mud and mud on the cobblestone passages,” said Brennauer: “I’m a little bit disappointed that I finished fourth and was not allowed to stand on the podium in the first edition.”
125 years after the men’s Roubaix premiere in 1896, victory went to Elizabeth Deignan after 116.4 km. The Brit from Team Trek-Segafredo celebrated the success in the Velodrome of Roubaix after an outstanding 80 km solo. Second was the three-time world champion Marianne Vos from the Netherlands (Jumbo-Visma / + 1: 17) ahead of Deignan’s teammate Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy / + 1: 47). Brennauer was 1:51 minutes behind. Franziska Koch from Mettmann (DSM / 2:10) came in seventh.
In total, the women had to complete 29.2 kilometers in the dreaded pave sectors. Brennauer led the chasing group for a long time, often leading them onto the cobblestones, thereby reducing the risk of falls. Ultimately, however, Deignan could not be overtaken.
Brennauer (Team Ceratizit-WNT) had been looking forward to the overdue first edition of “Paris-Roubaix Femmes”. For the development of women’s cycling, the race is “an important step forward,” she said in advance. On Sunday the men start the first edition of Roubaix in over two years. The drivers around Nils Politt (Bora-hansgrohe), second in the last event so far in spring 2019, and ex-champion John Degenkolb (Lotto-Soudal) have to cope with 257.7 km between Compiegne and Roubaix. The pave sectors have a total length of 55 km.
Paris-Roubaix had been canceled the previous year due to the corona pandemic. This year the date was moved from spring to autumn.