Rising British star Josh Tarling was disqualified from Paris-Roubaix on Sunday for taking an illegal tow from his Ineos Grenadiers team car following a puncture. But there was better news for team-mate and compatriot Tom Pidcock who finished a highly creditable 17th on his senior debut just days after a heavy crash.
Mathieu van der Poel, the world champion, lived up to his pre-race billing in the cobbled classic known as the ‘Hell of the North’, defending his crown with a wonderful 60-kilometre solo attack. Van der Poel’s biggest threat came when a spectator apparently tried to throw a cap at his rear wheel with 40km to go.
There were mixed fortunes for the British contingent. Fred Wright (Bahrain-Victorious) was 13th, Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers), the Olympic mountain bike champion, managed a gutsy 17th place. But Tarling, who was using a single 62-tooth chainring to tackle the 55 kilometers of cobbled roads, was disqualified with about 130km of the race remaining.
The Welshman, 20, had been an outsider for a top placing after impressing at last month’s Dwars door Vlaanderen and at last weekend’s Tour of Flanders. He looked well placed to do just that after making the select 30-rider front group which formed after Alpecin-Deceuninck forced the pace for Van der Poel with 150km to go.
However, after puncturing and switching bikes, Tarling – the European time-trial champion who has set his sights on an Olympic medal in the same discipline this summer – was spotted by a motorbike commissaire and on television taking a tow and ‘sticky bottle’ at high-speed from his Ineos Grenadiers team car as he attempted to catch back up to the group.
After being told of his disqualification, Tarling angrily waved away a television motorbike that was ahead of him.
Tarling was later disqualified from the official results, fined 500 Swiss francs and docked 100 UCI ranking points. Directeur sportif Christian Knees was also fined 500 Swiss francs.
“It’s a racing circumstance,” sporting director Ian Stannard told www.cyclingnews.com. “He [Tarling] had a bike change, and it is what it is. At the end of the day the commissaires made the decision and that’s it.”
Van der Poel, 29, made his move about 60km from the finish. And in the absence of his great rival Wout van Aert, no one was able to respond.
He had one scare when an idiotic spectator apparently tried to throw a cap at his wheel with just over 40km remaining. Van der Poel eventually cruised around the famous velodrome in Roubaix on his own.
“I never could have dreamed of this as a child,” said the Dutchman who also won last weekend’s Tour of Flanders. “I was super motivated this year, I wanted to show off the [rainbow] jersey [as world champion] in a nice way. It goes beyond expectations. I am lost for words to be honest with you, but I am really enjoying this moment.”
Van der Poel’s Belgian team-mate Jasper Philipsen finished in second place, three minutes behind, pipping Denmark’s Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) in a sprint finish.
In the women’s edition on Saturday, 23 year-old Briton Pfeiffer Georgi (Team dsm–firmenich PostNL) finished a hugely impressive third as the race came down to a six-up sprint.
Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) won from Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) with Georgi managing to pip the legendary Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) to the line.
Source Agencies
