Great Britain placed a rider on the podium of the Junior Paris-Roubaix for the second year in a row thanks to Tao Geoghegan Hart, who finished third behind winner Mads Petersen (Denmark) and Nathan Van Hooydonck (Belgium) after a three man sprint to the line in the Roubaix velodrome.
The trio broke free from the peloton on the Carrefour de l’Arbre sector of cobbles during the 119km race, which traces a route through the final 16 cobbled sectors of the senior parcours. Geoghegan Hart was unable to drop his breakaway companions on the run in to the line, but was ultimately happy with third.
“I felt good all race,” he said. “For me it’s better when the race is harder and longer, so it was perfect really.”
“I was hitting the Dane [Pedersen] in the last ten kilometres, just trying [to drop him]. But that’s one of those things; he wins bunch sprints.”
Oliver Wood (sixth), Scott Davies (19th) and Jake Ragan (26th) also made it into the top 30 to give Great Britain second place in the team competition behind Belgium.
Geoghegan Hart also emulated his friend and former junior Jon Dibben, now with the British Cycling Academy, who placed third behind a Danish rider last year.
“I spoke to Dibben for an hour on Friday, so we chatted a lot and he was giving me advice,” he said. “I thought I might be able to get him by one place, but unfortunately not!”
Geoghegan Hart with Scott Davies (right)
Geoghegan Hart is congratulated by team-mate Oliver Wood
Geoghegan Hart steps up onto the podium
