At the start line of the Paris-Roubaix Fam in Denain, neither Katia Ragusa (Liv Racing Techfind) nor Mart Truyen (Phoenix Deceuninck) expected to be in a sprint race. But a few hours later, they stood on the podium of the Roubaix Velodrome in second and third place, respectively, and both were more focused on the result in hand than the victory they missed.

"It feels like a victory. Before the race I was hoping for a top-20 finish, but now I'm third," Truyen said at the post-race press conference. [The team's plan was to go into a breakaway group, anticipate the first sector, and take it easy, less stressful than in a group. The first breakaway group was very big, 18 riders. There was a big gap and it worked out well," Ragusa said of the first hour when the eventual winning group formed.

Trujillen was given the same objective as Ragusa: "It was my task to get into the breakaway group. I was really happy. I knew from the men's race that I had a great chance in this race. I may not win, but I can help the team leaders in the final.

"I come from a cyclo-cross background and I really like cobblestones. It's been that way since I was at home. After Samin, I dreamed of Roubaix. I'm from Belgium and a lot of people think the Tour de Flanders is my dream race, but now it's Paris-Roubaix," Truyen declared his love for the "hell of the north."

As the race progressed and the leading riders began to open up a gap to the breakaway group, Ragusa received encouragement from his team.

"During the race it was hard to think we could get away. But from the car, he said to me, 'You can definitely win. I took it easy for the first few kilometers, but every few kilometers I felt like I could do something big. At the start this morning, I couldn't have imagined that I could finish second," she explained.

In the last 10km, the breakaway's advantage over the leading pack fluctuated between 10 and 20 seconds.

"I was expecting 20 or 30 guys to catch me. So I thought there would be 30 or 40 of us fighting for the win. But my teammates were with me, so it was a perfect situation for us. In Sector 2, I gave it my all one last time. And when I looked behind me in the last kilometer, the gap was still a few seconds.

In the end, Femke Marx (Team SD Works) crashed on the first corner of the last lap, making it a six-man sprint.

"I hoped I could get ahead of him at the entrance, but he was too fast to get away, I was in third and stayed on the velodrome and gave everything I had." Ragusa said of his sprint to pass Marion Borras (San Michele-Mavic-Ober 93) on the home straight, narrowly edging out Truyen for second place.

"I had never raced or trained on a circuit before. I felt really strong in the last 50 meters and I was really fast coming out of the last corner. Maybe it could have been possible, but I am very happy with third place as well."