This Sunday 13th of April, Intermarché-Wanty delivered another memorable collective performance at Paris-Roubaix, placing four riders in the top twenty, including two riders in the top 10 with Jonas Rutsch sixth and Laurenz Rex tenth.
As the instigator of the morning breakaway 270 kilometers from the finish, Jonas Rutsch was the first to enter Trouée d’Arenberg and then managed to latch onto the favorites’ group at the exit of this first five-star sector, more than 100 kilometers from the finish.
Amidst the battle between the top contenders, Rutsch admirably maintained his position in the fight for the podium until the last 30 kilometers, behind the duo of Pogacar and Van der Poel.
After more than 5 hours of effort and 30 cobbled sectors, Rutsch reached the Roubaix velodrome in sixth position, his first top 10 in a Monument. With tenth place, Laurenz Rex achieved his second top 10 in the Hell of the North. Biniam Girmay finished fifteenth in his debut, and Taco van der Hoorn twentieth.
Two hours earlier, Halvor Dolven also secured a top 10 for the Wanty-NIPPO-ReUz team in the U23 race, on his birthday. The Norwegian U23 champion finished eighth, in the group that contested fourth place.
"I prepared for this race for a long time. This winter, I watched the latest editions of Paris-Roubaix during my home trainer sessions. It's always useful because, even if you've participated, there are important race movements that you don't perceive in the peloton. It's especially thanks to that that I identified an ideal spot to attack, and I took my chance. I tried once, strong riders followed me, and we managed to stay ahead for quite a while. When the favorites caught up with us in Arenberg, I knew this was the moment to go into the red zone. To sum it up, I gave my all for 250 kilometers and was rewarded with a happy ending. Unlike previous editions where I was eliminated each time due to crashes or bad luck. I also used to work for our leaders, but with Intermarché-Wanty, I received the confidence to enjoy a free role. I seized this opportunity to anticipate, and that was the key to this sixth place."
"Unfortunately, I had my share of bad luck in this edition. I crashed with Jasper Stuyven, and I found myself chasing for a long time in a group with Filippo Ganna. Then I had to change bikes between Haveluy-Wallers, so I started the Trouée d'Arenberg in last position. I did everything to come back, I went all out for the last 100 kilometers. I then broke away with a small group about 30 kilometers from the finish, and finally, it's a top 10. A bad day ends with a good result. Without all the setbacks, I could probably have aimed for a top 5. That has to become the goal for the future. I felt good physically, but also mentally I've never been so strong, I never gave up. Collectively, we once again delivered a magnificent performance and showed that Paris-Roubaix is our race. Biniam Girmay's fifteenth place for his debut is also magnificent. It's thanks to the behind-the-scenes work, we did a lot of equipment tests for example. This Paris-Roubaix was a great conclusion to my classics campaign, in the future I hope to learn from my mistakes and become a fixed value in the top 20 of the Flemish classics."
"I'm happy with my first participation in Paris-Roubaix. I'm delighted to have been spared from setbacks, and therefore everything went according to plan for me. Unfortunately, my teammates didn't have that luck in the first half of the race. But we had Jonas Rutsch in the front, who like me avoided problems and valiantly fought with the best. I enjoyed the atmosphere in the sector of Carrefour de l'Arbre sector, but the Trouée d'Arenberg was the most demanding of all. Finishing with four riders in the top 20 is exceptional, we can be satisfied with our Paris-Roubaix."
