Zdenek finished second in Paris-Roubaix. Our Czech champion was beaten by John Degenkolb in a sprint of seven riders. “Too bad, but John deserved the win though.”
The race broke open when Bradley Wiggins attacked with 30 kilometers to go. The former Tour de France winner made a jump to the escaped Stijn Vandenbergh. Jens Debusschere joined and also Styby made the jump.
A good situation for Styby, but the wind caused a regrouping, but not for long. Yves Lampaert, a teammate of Zdenek at Etixx-Quick Step, made his move after Carrefour de l’Arbre and he took Greg Van Avermaet with him.
“That was perfect for us, but when Degenkolb suddenly got away, I knew we had to do something. Martin Elmiger, Lars Boom and Jens Keukeleire went on the counterattack and I followed. But I didn’t cooperate too much.”
With 3 kilometers to go Styby made his move. “I didn’t want to take the other three guys with me. I succeeded, but they all came back anyway. It would have been perfect to attack when I closed the gap, but I couldn’t. I had to recover a bit.”
“Yves tried, but Degenkolb was on his wheel immediately. And so we had to sprint. I took the second position after Yves. I know Degenkolb is fast and it would be hard to beat him, but you never know. I was hoping he was a little tired. Yet he was faster and he deserved the victory.”
Styby became second before Van Avermaet. “In my first Paris-Roubaix I was sixth, in my second one I finished fifth and now I’m second. I hope I can do better next year, because only the victory counts. We will see.”
“The team was very strong again today. We even tried it with an echelons. They sacrificed for us, without fear of blowing up from a full gas effort. For me, Stijn Vandenbergh and Niki Terpstra. So I have to thank them. They were perfect.”