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Roubaix, France
Belgian veteran Philippe Gilbert won the cobbled classic Paris Roubaix cycling race on Sunday after a cat-and-mouse final struggle with Germany’s Nils Politt while another Belgian Yves Lampaert was third.
Six riders, including defending champion Peter Sagan, broke away with around 55km remaining but the Deceuninck-Quick-Step pair Gilbert and Lampaert worked together to drop the Slovak on the final cobbled section.
The victory gives former world champion Gilbert his fourth of five of the so called ‘Monuments’, long one-day races. He has won the Tour of Flanders, the Tour of Lombardy and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, just the Milan-San Remo is missing from his prize list.
Gilbert called his bid for all five Monuments ‘Strive for Five’, after winning Flanders solo in front of adoring home crowds in 2017.
“Its really special. It was a really daring attack and it came off,” said the 36-year-old.
“When I decided to go for the classics they said the cobbles weren’t for me. I was just a puncher, but now I’m more complete.”
Roubaix, France
Belgian veteran Philippe Gilbert won the cobbled classic Paris Roubaix cycling race on Sunday after a cat-and-mouse final struggle with Germany’s Nils Politt while another Belgian Yves Lampaert was third.
Six riders, including defending champion Peter Sagan, broke away with around 55km remaining but the Deceuninck-Quick-Step pair Gilbert and Lampaert worked together to drop the Slovak on the final cobbled section.
The victory gives former world champion Gilbert his fourth of five of the so called ‘Monuments’, long one-day races. He has won the Tour of Flanders, the Tour of Lombardy and Liege-Bastogne-Liege, just the Milan-San Remo is missing from his prize list.
Gilbert called his bid for all five Monuments ‘Strive for Five’, after winning Flanders solo in front of adoring home crowds in 2017.
“Its really special. It was a really daring attack and it came off,” said the 36-year-old.
“When I decided to go for the classics they said the cobbles weren’t for me. I was just a puncher, but now I’m more complete.”
