Mikel Landa (Movistar) suffered a crash after hitting a hole while drinking from his bidon (Image credit: Getty Images)
Image 12 of 45
Simon Clarke (EF-Drapac) (Image credit: Getty Images)
Image 13 of 45
Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) added to his green jersey tally (Image credit: Getty Images)
Image 14 of 45
A Sunweb mechanic ready for wheel changes (Image credit: Getty Images)
Image 15 of 45
Chris Froome (Team Sky) (Image credit: Getty Images)
Image 16 of 45
Romain Bardet faced a lengthy chase with his teammate (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 17 of 45
Chris Froome (Team Sky) had one crash but came away unharmed in the Roubaix stage (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 18 of 45
Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) in the maillot jaune in the Roubaix stage of the Tour de France (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 19 of 45
John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) showed his old form on the cobbles (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 20 of 45
The iconic windmill reminds the Tour de France of Paris-Roubaix (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 21 of 45
Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) hit the deck (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 22 of 45
Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky - right) got a cobbled turn wrong (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 23 of 45
Chad Haga (Team Sunweb) leads the breakaway (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 24 of 45
Damiano Caruso (BMC) leads the peloton over the pavé (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 25 of 45
Rigoberto Uran looks for the EF-Drapac team car after a crash (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 26 of 45
Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) looked strong on the cobbles (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 27 of 45
The French flags fly over the Tour de France as riders enter secteur 13 (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 28 of 45
Laurens ten Dam (Sunweb) was tangled in a crash with Dylan Groenewegen (LottoNl-Jubmbo) (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 29 of 45
Flanders flags fly over the Tour de France's Roubaix stage (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 30 of 45
Romain Bardet and teammate Mathias Frank after a crash (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 31 of 45
Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) caught up in a crash with Tim Declercq (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 32 of 45
Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) caught up in a crash with Tim Declercq (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 33 of 45
Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) and John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo), two former Paris-Roubaix winners, had the edge on stage 9 (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 34 of 45
Tejay van Garderen had a crash in a dusty turn (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 35 of 45
Stage 9 of the Tour de France (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 36 of 45
Dry, dusty conditions made the cobbles dangerous (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 37 of 45
Yves Lampaert, Greg Van Avermaet and John Degenkolb got away on the Camphin-en-Pevele secteur (Image credit: Getty Images)
Image 38 of 45
Michal Kwiatkowsi (Team Sky) gets up after a crash (Image credit: Getty Images)
Image 39 of 45
Stage 9 of the Tour de France (Image credit: Getty Images)
Image 40 of 45
Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) with much of Northern France on his face (Image credit: Getty Images)
Image 41 of 45
Michael Valgren (Astana) torn up in a crash (Image credit: Getty Images)
Image 42 of 45
Richie Porte (BMC) crashed early in stage 9 and broke his collarbone (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 43 of 45
Richie Porte (BMC) crashed early in stage 9 and broke his collarbone (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Image 44 of 45
Jens Keukeleire (Lotto Soudal) sits in the road with Richie Porte (Image credit: Getty Images)
Image 45 of 45
Jens Keukeleire (Lotto Soudal) crashed early on stage 9 (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
In the spring, the ancient cobblestone roads in the farmlands of northern France are unearthed from their winter cover, berms of mud heaved to each side of the verge to ready the famed pavé for the arrival of the riders of Paris-Roubaix.
From time to time, they reappear in July – this time baked from the summer sun, the mud turned to dust, the plowed-under fields now verdant with life – as a challenge for the contenders in the Tour de France.
The gladiators of the spring Classics rose to the ocassion, with John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) reprising his 2015 role as hoister of the cobblestone trophy, vanquishing the 2017 Roubaix champion Greg Van Avermaet who – resplendent in the maillot jaune as race leader – held back his disappointment. The German's storybook comeback was apt as not only his first Tour stage win, but his first major victory since his horror crash in 2016.
The cobbles, turned slick by silt as fine as baby powder, claimed a few victims – most notably Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale), Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing), and even defending Tour champion Chris Froome (Team Sky) – but the worst crashes happened as they usually do: at a moment of inattention or due to some aggressive fighting for position.
Richie Porte (BMC Racing) was the first to abandon, suffering a broken collarbone in a tangle with Jens Keukeleire (Lotto Soudal) and Michael Valgren (Astana). Mikel Landa (Movistar) hit a drain when drinking from his bidet on the most innocuous of roads, and was forced to chase for the better part of 20km.
All in all, it was a hectic, painful, day before the first rest day, but in the end not much changed for the overall classification. Van Avermaet extended his lead over Geraint Thomas (Team Sky) to 43 seconds, while Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First-Drapac) was the biggest loser of the day, giving up 1:55 after being unable to rejoin following a crash.
Click or swipe through the gallery to view the chaos of the cobbles.
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Sign up to the Cyclingnews Newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how to do this, and how we hold your data, please see our privacy policy
Thank you for signing up to Cycling News. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
