Gianni Moscon proved to be Team Sky's best rider at Paris-Roubaix, surviving an early crash and a bike change and then either chasing or anticipating the key attacks. He fought all the way to the Roubaix velodrome, finishing fifth.
He was distanced by Greg Van Avermaet, Zdenek Stybar and Sebastian Langeveld on the final sector of pavé but kept chasing with Jasper Stuyven. He was rewarded for his fighting spirit by catching the three leaders on the final lap of the velodrome. They were riding at the top of the track and so he jumped first with half a lap to go. It was a brave move but he was passed on the final banking and could do little as the others sprinted for victory.
Moscon will only turn 23 on April 20. This was an impressive spring campaign in only his second season as a professional with Team Sky – fifth place in the fastest and one of the most aggressive editions of Paris-Roubaix is arguably as impressive as Tom Boonen's third place in 2002 when he was just 22.
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The Italian stopped on the far side of the velodrome after the finish, his face black with dust and marked by fatigue. He knew he had done a huge ride but struggled to take it all in.
"I hoped to still do something but Paris-Roubaix is such a hard race. I don't know what to say," where his first words, as Italian television tried to speak to him live on air.
"It was hard, I tried to anticipate the moves it because I was tired, the red light was on," he said before talking through the moment he caught Van Avermaet, Stybar and Langeveld in the velodrome.
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