SD Worx dominated the spring classics season starting in late February, with four riders taking five wins, but the Dutch team's cobbled victory came crashing down on a chaotic Saturday afternoon at the Paris-Roubaix Fam Avec Zwift.

Few would have predicted that after victories at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Strade Bianche, Ronde van Drenthe, Gent-Wevelgem, and the Tour of Flanders, this powerhouse team's best finish would be 7th place

But after nearly four hours on the cobblestones of northern France, Lotte Kopecký led a chase group to the finish behind an early breakaway.

The large escape group, which would ultimately battle for the win on the Roubaix velodrome, at one point appeared to be pulled back before the finish, but with 37km to go, a major pile-up in the group of potential winners changed the complexion of the race.

"I think we were making pretty good progress towards the breakaway group, but then this happened. But this is bicycle racing too. ......" Kopecký, who fell along with teammate Lorena Vives, defending champion Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo), and several other leading riders, reflected after the finish.

"I didn't feel very good as the team suffered one puncture after another. But when I was in the group with Lorena, she exposed herself completely, trying to get as close to us as possible. And then there was Femke, who was very strong on the brakes.

"It was a very - how should I say it - animated Paris-Roubaix."

The day's break (after about 15 km of racing, 18 riders joined up at the front) would eventually narrow down to six riders for the finish.

In the first sector of the cobblestones of Hornein, the pack had already built up a six-minute advantage over the peloton. The gap was huge, but even so, Kopecky and SD Walkes were confident that they could rejoin the pack later in the day.

"The group had a pretty big advantage, so I don't think our pace was enough to change the race," Kopecky said.

"We knew from the last race that we could start the race early, so we tried to do that."

However, Longo Borghini lost control at the front of the pack, and the crash, which occurred at the three-star Pont Thibault, nearly knocked Kopecky, the favorite at the start of the day, out of the race.

"That crash was at the worst possible time," Kopecky said. 'I got hurt right there. I just stayed down and I didn't think I could run any longer." [but the mechanics came and said, "Do you want to try?" He said, "Do you want to try?

To sum up the day, Kopecky repeated what many have said in the past about hell in the north. It's Paris-Roubaix.