Hell as a mud pit: Colbrelli wins Paris-Roubaix

Professional cyclists in Gatsch / Image: APA / AFP / ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT

The rain turned the dirt roads into mud pits, the cobblestones from Napoleon's time brought down a number of professional cyclists and companion motorcycles – the 118th edition of the spring classic Paris-Roubaix, relocated to autumn due to the corona, lived up to its nickname “Hell of the North”.

At the end of the 257.7 kilometers from Compiègne to the Vélodrome in Roubaix, the 31-year-old Italian veteran Sonny Colbrelli from the Bahrain Victorious team triumphed. Above all, the notorious Arenberg Forest, the 19th of 30 Pavé passages, had once again separated the wheat from the chaff.