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Lizzie Deignan proved to be the class of the peloton during the very first Paris-Roubaix Femmes by pushing back Marianne Vos to take victory at the Vélodrome André-Pétrieux after a grueling 116 km race on the famous cobbles.
The elite female cyclist had to wait a long time to find a place in the cobblestone and faced a unique challenge as the devil left the tap on in a delayed “Hell of the North”. Deignan scored a superb solo victory as Vos’s chase turned out to be in vain as the Yorkshirewoman ultimately showed greater mastery of the conditions.
After a quick start, Deignan escaped about 79 km from the finish, on the first cobbled section, Hornaing in Wandignies, and quickly took two minutes ahead of the pursuers.
With the rain starting to fall, the cobblestones became even more dangerous. The traditional dust that usually covers men when they plow the north of France is not a factor; instead, the women had to deny a patchwork of muddy puddles scattered across the cobblestone.
Despite Deignan’s lead exceeding two and a half minutes at one point, she still had to use all of her bike handling skills to make her way through the cobbles. Ellen van Dijk, Elisa Longo Borghini and Vos in the pursuit squad behind struggled to secure a consistent effort, until the 34-year-old Dutch legend broke up in pursuit.
Vos gritted her teeth as she tried to chase after Deignan, but after initially wiping for nearly a minute, the Briton managed to fend off her great rival as the miles flew by.
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