Vlad van Mechelen raced to an impressive fifth place at Paris Roubaix Espoirs for Development Team dsm-firmenich PostNL after a punishing day of racing which also saw teammate Johan Dorussen make the day’s early breakaway.
Dorussen went clear early in the day with three others and held a gap over the chase until the second sector after which things started to become more difficult for him. It was near this point that Vincent Bodet suffered a crash and despite being able to continue, wasn’t able to contribute to the team’s efforts. As expected the race splintered into several groups over the various cobblestone sectors with just Van Mechelen making the front split, eventually racing to fifth.
After the race, Team dsm-firmenich PostNL coach Bennie Lambregts commented: “We started the race very well with Johan in the early break but after the second sector things became difficult for him. We also had a crash with Vincent before the race split into several groups after which Ben had a flat and Frank dropped, leaving only Vlad in the front group.
“I think Vlad did a really good race though. We missed a bit the teamwork in the final part when he was alone in the break of around 15 riders, but he rode well.”
Van Mechelen added: “The boys did a good job keeping me out of trouble until the first sector. After that it was just about staying in the front and making the splits when they happened. In my opinion, it was a very honest and hard race and I think fifth place is a decent result here amongst the best in the world.”