Race Report: There is never a surprise winner in Roubaix and today’s ‘Hell of the North’ didn’t disappoint the fans. The cobbles were dry and fast, perfect for a certain German who used to be a sprinter and now is the Classicsman of 2015 – John Degenkolb. The fast and furious road to Roubaix.John Degenkolb (Giant-Alpecin & Germany) took his second Monument of the year (after Sanremo) in brilliant fashion on the hallowed tarmac of Roubaixs velodrome on Sunday afternoon having bridged to what looked like the winning move of two riders he still had the strength to win the sprint when another four bridged up to make it a seven man showdown. Etixx – Quick-Step were second yet again with Zdenek Stybar (Czech Republic) not having the pure brute strength and speed of the German. Greg Van Avermaet (BMC & Belgium) was the bridesmaid again taking the third spot on the podium after an engrossing and hard race.How the Race UnfoldedThe race started under sunny skies shame the usual flurries came thick and fast but it was around the half hour mark before a move stuck with Gregory Rast (Trek Factory Racing), Adam Blythe (Orica-GreenEDGE), Alexis Gougeard (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Aleksejs Saramotins (IAM Cycling), Pierre-Luc Perichon (Bretange-Seche), Tim Declercq (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise), Frederik Backaert (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) and Ralf Matzka (Bora-Argon 18) going clear.With 50 K covered in the first hour it was no soft move one minute, three, five, nine; yes, this is indeed the move of the day. Troisville, the...
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