Greg Van Avermaet’s dramatic first monument victory was enough to seal 28 per cent of the vote compared to the equally as dramatic Tour of Flanders, which pulled in 23 per cent. It was another monument, Milan-San Remo, that took the final podium spot in the poll.
Paris-Roubaix has been a fan-favourite in the poll since its inception in 2002 and it has only been beaten by the World Championships Road Race in 2015.
This year’s Hell of the North saw Van Avermaet take to the top step on a monument for the first time in his career. It was also the final bow for four-time winner of the race Tom Boonen. After Quick-Step Floors had dominated proceedings at the Tour of Flanders a week earlier, the rest of the peloton stepped up.
As always with Paris-Roubaix, the decisive group formed over several kilometres. Already in an elite group, Van Avermaet broke things up further with a stinging attack with 16 kilometres remaining. He took Zdenek Stybar and Sebastian Langeveld with him all the way to the velodrome and looked like they were setting up a three-way sprint until Jasper Stuyven and Gianni Moscon caught up with the lead group.
Stybar was the first to launch his sprint but it was Van Avermaet, who had enjoyed such a strong spring already, who crossed the line first with Stybar in second and Langeveld in third.
While Van Avermaet was a first-time monument winner, Philippe Gilbert added his fourth monument title at the Tour of Flanders. It was his first time at the race since 2012, but he stormed away on the Oude Kwaremont over 50 kilometres to the finish and soloed to victory. The chase behind of Van Avermaet, Peter Sagan and Oliver Naesen were closing in on Gilbert until Sagan crashed when he got caught up in a fan’s jacket.
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