2016 Paris–Roubaix

The Roubaix Velodrome, where the Paris–Roubaix finished, on the day of the race. The victory podium can be seen in the centre.

The cobbled road at the Trouée d'Arenberg

The route of the 2016 Paris–Roubaix was not significantly changed from the 2015 edition. It was slightly longer at 257.5 kilometres (160.0 mi). There were 27 sectors of cobbled roads: these included one addition to the route, the uphill Hameau du Buat sector. Several sections of cobbles, including the difficult one at Mons-en-Pévèle, had been renovated since 2015.[2]

Despite its name, the race did not start in Paris: it started in Compiègne (80 kilometres (50 mi) to the north) and travelled generally north towards Roubaix. The main difficulty came from the 27 cobbled sectors, with a total distance of 52.8 kilometres (32.8 mi); the race organisers gave these sectors a difficulty rating with the three five-star sectors the most difficult and the one one-star sector the easiest. The first 98.5 kilometres (61.2 mi) were generally flat on normal roads, with the first sector coming between Troisvilles and Inchy. Over the following 60 kilometres (37 mi), there were another eight cobbled sectors, before the first five-star sector. This was the Trouée d'Arenberg (English: Arenberg Trench) and was 2.4 kilometres (1.5 mi) in length. The riders turned back on themselves several times around Wallers to take in several more sectors. With the route again heading north, the riders crossed several more cobbled sectors – all rated as either three-star or four-star in difficulty – on the way to the next five-star sector, a 3-kilometre (1.9 mi) road through Mons-en-Pévèle. At the end of this sector, there were 45 kilometres (28 mi) to the finish line.[3][4][5]

After Mons-en-Pévèle, there were seven more cobbled sectors before the final five-star sector. This was the 2.4-kilometre (1.5 mi) Carrefour de l'Arbre; by the end there were 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to the finish line. This included three more cobbled sectors – two two-star sectors and the final one-star sector as the route entered Roubaix itself. The route ended on the Roubaix Velodrome in Roubaix: the riders enter the velodrome half-way round; they ride one-and-a-half laps of the 500-metre (550 yd) circuit to complete the race.[3][4][5]

Cobbled sectors

Cobbled sectors of the 2016 Paris–Roubaix[5]

Section number	Name	Distance from start (km)	Length (m)	Category
27	Troisvilles to Inchy	98.5	2200
26	Viesly to Quiévy	105	1800
25	Quiévy to Saint-Python	107.5	3700
24	Saint-Python	112.5	1500
23	Vertain to Saint-Martin-sur-Écaillon	120.5	2300
22	Capelle to Ruesnes (Hameau du Buat)	127	1700
21	Quérénaing to Maing	137.5	2500
20	Maing to Monchaux-sur-Écaillon	141	1600
19	Haveluy to Wallers	154	2500
18	Trouée d'Arenberg	162	2400
17	Wallers to Hélesmes	168	1600
16	Hornaing to Wandignies	175	3700
15	Warlaing to Brillon	182.5	2400
14	Tilloy to Sars-et-Rosières	186	2400
13	Beuvry-la-Forêt to Orchies	192.5	1400
12	Orchies	197.5	1700
11	Auchy-lez-Orchies to Bersée	203.5	2700
10	Mons-en-Pévèle	209	3000
9	Mérignies to Avelin	215	700
8	Pont-Thibaut to Ennevelin	218	1400
7	Templeuve (Moulin-de-Vertain)	224.5	500
6	Cysoing to Bourghelles	231	1300
	Bourghelles to Wannehain	233.5	1100
5	Camphin-en-Pévèle	238	1800
4	Carrefour de l'Arbre	240.5	2100
3	Gruson	243	1100
2	Willems to Hem	249.5	1400
1	Roubaix, Espace Crupelandt	256.5	300
Total cobbled sections			52800

As Paris–Roubaix is a UCI World Tour event, all 18 UCI World Teams were invited automatically and were obliged to send a squad.[6] In February 2016, the race organisers announced the seven UCI Professional Continental teams that had received wildcard invitations, completing the 25-team peloton.[7] With each team allowed to enter up to eight riders, the maximum size of the peloton was 200.[8] Astana was the only team to submit just seven riders. Team Katusha's Jacopo Guarnieri failed to start the race, so the race began with 198 riders.[9]

Peter Sagan (Tinkoff), the world champion and one of the favourites for the race victory (photographed at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad)

The recent editions of Paris–Roubaix had been won in various ways. Seven of the previous ten editions had been won by riders who had made solo breakaways; the most recent of these was Niki Terpstra in 2014. Other editions had been won in small group sprints: there were three riders together at the finish in 2008 Paris–Roubaix, two riders in 2013 and six in 2015.[10]

John Degenkolb (Team Giant–Alpecin) won the sprint in 2015, but was unable to defend his title in the 2016 edition due to injuries sustained in a collision with a car during winter training.[11] Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team), who finished third in 2015, was also unable to start the race after breaking his collarbone in a crash at the Tour of Flanders the previous week.[12]

The two principal favourites to win the race were Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) and Fabian Cancellara (Trek–Segafredo). Sagan, the reigning world champion, had won the Tour of Flanders (the other monument raced on cobbled roads) in a solo breakaway. He was able to win both from a breakaway and in a group sprint. Sagan's best previous result in Paris–Roubaix was his sixth-place finish in 2014.[10][13] Cancellara had won the race on three previous occasions (in 2006, 2010 and 2013) and had finished in the top ten on five other occasions.[10] Cancellara was racing in his final Paris–Roubaix, after announcing that he would retire at the end of the 2016 season.[14]

One of Cancellara's main rivals in classics races over his career was Tom Boonen (Etixx–Quick-Step), who had won Paris–Roubaix on four occasions in the past. He had not been in strong form, however, in the 2016 season and had struggled with a wrist injury in the Tour of Flanders. His team, however, was very strong, with Terpstra, Stijn Vandenbergh and Zdeněk Štybar all possible winners of the race.[4]

Other possible winners included Sep Vanmarcke (LottoNL–Jumbo), who was third in the Tour of Flanders, Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha), Lars Boom (Astana), Ian Stannard (Team Sky) and Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Dimension Data).[4][13]

Mathew Hayman (Orica–GreenEDGE), who was in the day's main breakaway and went on to win the race in the final sprint (photographed in 2014)

There was a high-speed start to the race, with several groups attempting to form breakaways; each was chased by the main peloton. An initial group of six riders was caught within 20 kilometres (12 mi) of the start; a group of 25 then briefly held a 30-second lead before they were recaptured by the peloton. After several more attacks and a total of 67 kilometres (42 mi), the riders were still all together in one group. A group of sixteen riders then attacked and built a lead, despite the efforts of the Etixx–Quick-Step and Bora–Argon 18 teams to chase it. As the riders arrived on the first cobbled sectors, Sky took over at the front of the peloton to protect their riders and the breakaway's advantage increased to two minutes, although it was reduced to fourteen riders.[15] The riders in the breakaway were Sylvain Chavanel (Direct Énergie), Mathew Hayman and Magnus Cort (Orica–GreenEDGE), Jelle Wallays (Lotto–Soudal), Yaroslav Popovych (Trek–Segafredo), Johan Le Bon (FDJ), Marko Kump (Lampre–Merida), Tim Declercq (Topsport Vlaanderen–Baloise), Salvatore Puccio (Sky), Reinardt Janse van Rensburg (Dimension Data), Frederik Backaert (Wanty–Groupe Gobert), Maxime Daniel (AG2R La Mondiale), Borut Božič (Cofidis) and Imanol Erviti (Movistar Team).[16] The breakaway was notable for the presence of Popovych, who had announced that the race would be the last of his career, and Erviti, who had finished in the top ten at the Tour of Flanders a week earlier having again been in the early breakaway.[15][17]

With 140 kilometres (87 mi) completed and more than 115 kilometres (71 mi) remaining, there was a crash in the peloton before the eighth cobbled sector. Etixx–Quick-Step immediately sent Tony Martin and Guillaume Van Keirsbulck to the front of the group and accelerated hard; this caused the group to split up. The front group included Boonen, Boasson Hagen, Stannard, Rowe and Vanmarcke along with several others, with Sagan, Cancellara, Štybar and Terpstra all in a chasing group. LottoNL–Jumbo had six riders in the front group. The gap between the first and second chasing groups quickly grew to a minute, thanks in particular to Martin's work; he spent around 40 kilometres (25 mi) at the front of Boonen's group.[15][16] Martin's effort reduced the group to five riders, with Vanmarcke and Rowe among the riders dropped.[18] As they reached the Trouée d'Arenberg, the break had just over a minute's lead over the first chasing group; the Vanmarcke group was around 20 seconds behind them, with Cancellara and Sagan in another group that was around a minute further back. Sagan himself was making efforts at the front of the group to try to bring the first chase group back.[15]

Tom Boonen (Etixx–Quick-Step), who had won the race on four previous occasions, finished second in the sprint after attacking several times (photographed in 2015).

With 87 kilometres (54 mi) remaining, Vanmarcke's group merged with Boonen's, forming a 16-man group that was 55 seconds behind the breakaway group. Alexander Kristoff had punctured and been dropped from the group containing Cancellara and Sagan. Over the following kilometres, Hayman attacked solo from the breakaway; meanwhile, Jasper Stuyven (Trek–Segafredo) rode hard to bring his teammate Cancellara back to within 40 seconds of the first chasing group.[16] Hayman was brought back by the rest of the group, while Popovych dropped back from the breakaway to help Cancellara's group with 64 kilometres (40 mi) remaining.[15] After the next cobbled sector, Boonen's group caught the remainder of the breakaway and formed a group of around 20 riders, led by Team Sky, that was around 50 seconds ahead of the Cancellara group.[15][16]

Cancellara and Sagan worked hard together at the front of what was now the second group on the road. Shortly afterwards, the front group was disrupted when three of the four Team Sky riders in the front group – Rowe, Puccio and Gianni Moscon – crashed in just a few corners, leaving Stannard as the team's only rider in the leading group.[15] With 48 kilometres (30 mi) remaining and the chasers 37 seconds behind the lead group, the riders crossed the five-star Mons-en-Pévèle cobbles. Cancellara crashed on a muddy section, slipping off the crown of the road. Sagan, riding immediately behind him, managed to bunny hop over him – with only one foot clipped into his bike – and continued in pursuit of the lead group; Cancellara, although able to continue the race, never rejoined the group. Terpstra was also among those to crash in the incident.[15][16][19] Cycling Weekly described Sagan's manoeuvre as "unbelievable bike handling".[20]

Rowe rejoined the leading group with Heinrich Haussler and Aleksejs Saramotins (both IAM Cycling) to form a ten-man leading group which led Sagan's group by over a minute with 30 kilometres (19 mi) remaining.[15] Rowe was tired after coming back from his crash; he agreed to work fully for Stannard.[21] He put in a strong effort with 20 kilometres (12 mi) remaining that dropped Erviti, Haussler, Saramotins and Marcel Sieberg (Lotto–Soudal), who formed a chase group behind.[17] A five-man group then formed on the Camphin-en-Pévèle sector, with Stannard, Boonen, Boasson Hagen, Hayman and Vanmarcke the only riders remaining. Vanmarcke put in a big attack on the Carrefour de l'Arbre; although he briefly had a significant gap, the other four riders brought him back before the next section of cobbles.[15]

Ian Stannard (Team Sky), who finished third in the sprint (photographed in 2015)

Stannard attacked with 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) remaining. He had a 20 metres (20 yd) advantage, but the group was able to come back to him. In the final 3 kilometres (1.9 mi), Boonen attacked several times. On the last of these attacks, Hayman accelerated past him and the two riders came together into the velodrome, with Vanmarcke joining soon afterwards.[18] With one 500-metre (550 yd) lap remaining, Stannard and Boasson Hagen rejoined the group. Hayman led out the sprint: Boonen was on his wheel and Stannard came around the outside. Neither was able to come around him and Hayman crossed the line first to take the victory. Boonen was second with Stannard third. Vanmarcke finished with them in fourth place; Boasson Hagen was three seconds behind in fifth place.[15]

The chase group of Haussler, Sieberg and Saramotins finished a minute back, with Erviti a further seven seconds back to finish in ninth. Sagan's group arrived more than two minutes after Hayman, with Adrien Petit (Direct Energie) outsprinting Sagan for tenth place.[16]

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