‘Unless I’m in an ambulance, I’m finishing this race’ – Cyrus Monk, the last man home at Paris-Roubaix

It may be often repeated, if only because it’s true, but Paris-Roubaix is a race unlike any other, one where everyone in the peloton has their own story to tell.

The same can be said whether a rider is gliding to a perfect solo victory as Mathieu van der Poel did or whether they are battling on, duty-bound to the sense of achievement in reaching the Vélodrome André-Pétrieux, even if the time cut has long since ticked away.