'In hindsight, we probably could have done things differently' – Visma-Lease a Bike had the numbers at Paris-Roubaix Femmes, but couldn't make it count

Nothing is predictable at the end of Paris-Roubaix Femmes. The best rider of all time, the winner of more than 250 bike races, in a situation which seems perfectly suited to her, can be out-sprinted by a rider who has only ever won thrice before. Franziska Koch can win, and Marianne Vos can lose.

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider has almost won it all, and yet in Roubaix – a race which is almost tailored for this multi-discipline world champion, who has won endlessly for two decades – she can't seem to get it across the line. Vos has raced five times: second, 10th, fourth twice, and now second again.

This time, in particular, the race situation was in Vos's favour; with 50km to go, she was in the front of the race with her teammate Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, the defending champion, and an isolated Koch. It was no fait accompli, but a betting person would have felt confident staking their money on Vos.

However, it didn't come to pass, with the pair unable to distance their German rival, but also with the FDJ United-SUEZ rider seemingly not tiring, despite trying to break them up.

"In hindsight, we probably could have done things differently, but she also made some great attacks herself," Vos said in her press conference. "I’m very thankful for Pauline, all the efforts she did, to make the gap bigger, to keep pushing. I would have wanted to finish it off, but it is what it is."

Ferrand-Prévot, for her part, conceded that Koch was "a bit stronger at the end".

"For me, I was doubting a bit when Blanka Vas was with us," the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift winner said. "When we dropped Blanka, I thought, 'OK, it’s quite a good situation for us.' I wanted Marianne to save as much as possible and try to win a sprint.

"After such a hard race, you can’t be 100% sure that Marianne will win the sprint. We tried, but it’s also part of cycling: you can’t always win."

Tactics were not the only thing that complicated Vos's fifth attempt at Roubaix; her father, Henk, passed away just before last weekend's Tour of Flanders, and grief consumed her race preparations.

After pausing to find the right words, when asked about her difficult run-up, she said: "I tried to focus as much as possible on the race itself. With the team doing such an amazing job, and Pauline, I tried to focus on the task you need to do.

"Cycling has always been a big part of my life. I just wanted to try and make the best of the preparation under the circumstances. I was also just very happy to be here because it’s one of the most beautiful races of the season. Even though I knew it might not be the perfect preparation, I just wanted to give everything I had today.

"It’s an in-between feeling, which is a weird feeling. Maybe one day it will be closer to one or another. I don’t know what to feel yet."

She added: "We miss him, just calling, having a small WhatsApp or whatever. In a way, you just try and focus on what you need, and have to do. It’s what I always do. There is enough to focus on to mostly think about that."

It was the sad situation which brought Ferrand-Prévot into this race, one that was not on her calendar originally: "When I knew her father passed away I called the team and said I would like to race Roubaix to try and support Marianne, to help her in this moment. I knew it was a dream for her to win, and I just wanted to win for her father.

"I had such good memories with them, and for me it was to say bye to him and say thank you to him. It’s why I wanted Marianne to win. We didn’t succeed, but at least we gave everything we had."

Vos will be back, to try and conquer the unpredictability, to give it everything she has once again at Paris-Roubaix Femmes. Second in these circumstances was still impressive, and a month shy of her 39th birthday, there is no sign of the Dutchwoman slowing yet.