It was an instant iconic edition of Paris – Roubaix. A race of attrition from start to finish, with crashes and punctures wreaking havoc and a battle between the favorites that will be remembered for a long time to come.
Lewis Askey came into the race with his sights set on a top-10 finish and while he ended up crossing the line in 13th place, narrowly missing his pre-race objective, he admitted “I did everything I could.” 13th marks Askey’s best ever result in Roubaix after five participations and a strong finish to the cobbled classics season.
After brilliant teamwork in the first half of the race, Askey and co-leader Biniam Girmay were well positioned on the run into the cobbled sectors and managed to stay out of trouble until the infamous Trouée d’Arenberg, when Girmay suffered an untimely puncture that would see him drop out of contention.
Askey forged on ahead and was in the second chase group behind an eight-rider leading group as the race entered the final ten cobbled sectors.
“It was such a hectic race that I don’t actually know exactly what happened at the start,” Askey said. “We had me, Bini [Girmay], and G [Boivin] in the front split and I don’t know if a few people stopped, or if there was a crash that caused that, but we didn’t have to spend too much energy to make that front split.
“G did a really, really good job of protecting me before the Arenberg, right in the front group, and that put me in a good position for basically the whole race. I didn’t quite have the legs to follow the best riders. I mean, I was in the right place, I just could not quite go with them. But I was always making sure my positioning was good going into each sector.
“Then, somewhere in the middle of the race, I punctured and I spent quite a lot of energy getting back. I was really on the limit in the last 70k, but I could see that the riders around me were also suffering. So I just tried to make sure I went as hard as I could at the start of each sector, and then kind of just survived each one.”
While up ahead Wout Van Aert won a two-man sprint against Pogačar, and the top ten were quickly decided in the minutes after, Askey’s group arrived in Roubaix to sprint for 11th place with the British rider emptying himself in the iconic velodrome to finish 13th.
“I think I did the best sprint I could with the legs I had, and with how I rode in the final,” added Askey. “I was third in that sprint from our group, and I don’t think I could have done much more, really. Every year I keep getting a little bit stronger. I keep improving little by little, and I managed to do that again this year. So I hope that keeps continuing year after year, because it does not take much more to make that front group, and that can completely change the race. Then maybe I can come away with the win or the podium instead of 11th or 10th.”
Unfortunately, the chaos of the cobbles saw Guillaume Boivin crash heavily on the Arenberg with x-rays confirming a fractured left scapular which, fortunately, will not require surgery. Girmay also crashed later in the race, forcing him to abandon, but escaped without any fractures, only sustaining some contusions.
