Sonny Colbrelli concluded his career recently, but has had a stint in cycling much more successful than the average rider. Looking back on his wins, he details the day he won Paris-Roubaix in 2021.
"After Paris-Roubaix there was a complete explosion in my head. That one win changed my life forever," Colbrelli said in an interview with Cyclist. "Already it was such a special day for me, so much emotion and joy, and when I remember 21st March in Catalunya (when he suffered a cardiac arrest) I always remember Paris-Roubaix and that feeling, lying on the floor after the sprint. It’s hard to explain such a feeling."
After many years of being an very consistent sprinter, puncheur and classics rider, everything clicked in 2021. He took stage wins at the Tour de Romandie and Critérium du Dauphiné alongside points classifications, the Italian national championships, however his season would still dramatically improve from there on.
He was close but couldn't take a win at the Tour de France. Afterwards however he took the overall win at the Benelux following a stage win in Houffalize. The following weekend he won the European Championships after resisting the attacks of Remco Evenepoel close to home in Trento. He won the Memorial Marco Pantani and finished in 10th at the World Championships before his final goal of the season, Paris-Roubaix.
In a very rainy and muddy day in the cobbled of northern France he survived the attacks of Mathieu van der Poel and Florian Vermeersch, and managed to hold himself on the bike on very difficult conditions.
"With 10km to go I was already super-happy. I was asking myself, ‘Who in their first time at the race is in the position for the podium, or the win, at Paris-Roubaix?’ I kept telling myself, ‘Sonny, you will follow Mathieu van der Poel'," he continued. "With 1km to go I remember saying, ‘When we start in the velodrome make sure you’re in second or third, not in first.’ I remember this clearly above all else. After that I just told myself again, ‘Follow Mathieu.’"
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The trio entered the velodrome isolated and in a very balanced battle for the win. "With 100m to go I started my sprint to follow Florian Vermeersch and my legs were dead, zero energy, zero power, but I followed and then with maybe 15m to go I jumped Vermeersch and then the rest was a wave of emotion," he described. It was his only monument win and biggest career achievement.
"The day was incredible, not just the win but the race, the rain, the faces black with mud. My friends joke that this was the best race. Maybe it was for them, but not for me in those conditions. But of course it is a day that I will never forget. I still have everything from that day – the helmet, jersey, shoes, bike, everything still not washed. Although I think my wife would prefer if maybe I did wash it," he concluded.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
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Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- 18 broken bones. 78 crashes, among 30 rider per year is a lot. so for a rider over 15 seasons, they will break their bones 7-8 times and crash 38 times.abstractengineer04-11-2026
- i dont think he is ready ot win against the top 2 or the 2nd rung of evenepoel, del toro , Almeida. In the third week in the TDF he was very very defensive, no attacks. i think he was exhausted. right now he needs time not the brutal Giro or the intense TDF.abstractengineer04-11-2026
- Rota is an excellent rider to get in a break with because he always does his turnchapmanesque04-11-2026
- That 3000 extra that the Tour de France is built up in the flat stages
Rafionain-Glas04-11-2026 - maybe this is something else they can protest in the streets of France.mij04-11-2026
- his Roubaix win was amazing. not to take anything away from him - arguably one of MVDP's wins was at the expense of a WVA flat - but so many things need to line up to get one of these. He had a perfect race with fewer bike issues on an attritional course. And crazy strong as usual. Glad he got this done.mij04-11-2026
- Orts was a super smart signing with the new rules regarding cross and UCI pointsmij04-11-2026
- yeah... you're right...PogiSloFans04-11-2026
- Podcast sounds great. Two so called experts stating the f*cking obvious.wrsty04-11-2026
- A mindset that reminds me of Tim Declerq. I loved watching that guy just pound away the kilometers, hours at the front, holding an entire breakaway in check on his own. Bjerg seems like a similar guy. Curling, the team sport.RidesHills04-11-2026
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