"It's Paris-Roubaix unfortunately" - Christophe Laporte left empty following Jumbo-Visma's crucial mechanicals

Christophe Laporte closed the Top10 at Paris-Roubaix but he was likely one of the most disappointed figures at the end of the day. Not only did his teammate Wout van Aert miss out on the chance to win the race with a late puncture, but the Frenchman himself saw the same fate earlier in the day.

Laporte was one of the few riders who attacked off the front in Wallers, but in Arenberg he's suffered what he hoped not to: a puncture, which cost him a lot of time and spat him out of the front group. "The Trouée d'Arenberg is really a difficult sector, there is a great chance of having mechanical problems. And unfortunately, I punctured at the end of the sector," he said in a post-race interview. "I tried to come back, but I was too far, I lost too much time. It changed the course of the race."

The Frenchman was too far from even the chasing groups that had then formed and could never again see the front, leaving the Dutch team isolated against a strong Alpecin-Deceuninck. Laporte then made a move once again from behind together with Nathan van Hooydonck, which was then joined by other riders who kept the pace high into a Top10 contention. He explains: "Afterwards, I tried to come out with Nathan Van Hooydonck to put a little pressure and that Wout is not too much work to do in front."

He punctured once again, but the team's true disaster was out front in the Carrefour de l'Arbre. Laporte powerfully won his sprint to finish 10th on the day, but with no reasons for celebration. "And then with the second bad luck, with Wout who punctures in the Carrefour of l'Arbre... it wasn't our day unfortunately. There is disappointment, we didn't come to do 10th, first Frenchman and 3rd. I felt good, so it's all the more frustrating, but it's Paris-Roubaix unfortunately," he sighed.