MISSED THE TIME CUT BUT KEPT RIDING

It was an incredible day when I finished ninth in Roubaix, one of the most beautiful days in my career, in 2019. It was the day that everything went well - I had no punctures, no problems. I had super legs, I made a good tactical choice, everything went really well and I really enjoyed it.

I have a real history with Paris-Roubaix, with what happened the previous year. The race has given me a lot. It is cool that I can participate in the legend of Roubaix.

The year before, my team manager said to me that Roubaix has a history, and you need to respect the history of the race. It’s important. A lot of riders have done this race before, and that’s why I rode to the finish outside the time limit, an hour after the winner, to respect the race. I just wanted to go to the finish, I cannot explain why or what was happening in my head at that moment. Even my wife told me that she didn’t know why I did that, I guess I just got the idea in my head. I didn’t do it when I rode Roubaix before, but this was a year where I wasn’t dead. Sometimes when you ride the race you’re so tired that you can’t go on any longer, but that year I wanted to go to the finish.