The Trek-Segafredo rider had taken off in the first of 17 cobblestoned areas and was slowly building her lead. Only at the final stage was Voss able to put some pressure on Dinan. However, Jumbo Visma’s Brabant failed to close the gap and finished 1 minute 17 seconds behind the winner. Longo Borghini cheered for herself and teammate Deignan.

Great Dutch contribution

Participants Square was a major Dutch contribution on Saturday afternoon. Of the 129 women who started, at least 35 are Dutch. 27 percent. One of them, Nicole Steiginga, together with the Norwegian Emily Moberg, was the first to tackle a small hole after twenty kilometers.

After the duo broke out as they approached the first cobbled section, the peloton exploded and Trek rider Deignan was the one to escape. An hour later, with about 55 kilometers remaining, the 2015 world champion’s lead was more than two minutes.

Elaine Van Dyck and Voss were part of the first group of the Denian hunt. Longo Borghini was also part of that group, after which Amy Peters and Chantal van den Broek-Black also joined the group shortly afterwards. In the tough cobbled seventh division, Mons-en-Pévèle, several riders got it wrong in a number of serious crashes, including Longo Borghini.

Marian Voss (third from right) during play during the Paris-Roubaix match.

Ⓒ ANP / HH

With 25 kilometers remaining on the road, Deignan finally gave in to the pursuers again, but was still two minutes ahead. Meanwhile, Van Dijk crashed hard at Chamfen-en-Bevel, but the Dutch got up again. Meanwhile Voss was in second place and at the same time tried with all his might to narrow the gap with Deignan, and his only successor could be joined by Longo Borghini, and Pieters, among others, was forced to unload. 10km from the finish line Voss was still 1.16 behind the English rider.

Foss did what she could, but was unable to get close to Deignan. Longo Borghini, in turn, was no longer able to get into the Vos Wheel. Deignan nearly ran out of words after reaching the end. “I am very emotional and very proud,” she stuttered. “Sorry, it’s not my best word, but I’m so happy. I can’t believe it.” A little later, I made it clear that the attack was not planned. Deignan had teammates Van Dijk and Longo Borghini who were higher in the rankings. “I wanted to protect them by leading the way and now I’m the first winner,” he said with astonishment.