Kiwi rider Laurence Pithie has continued his outstanding season with a seventh place in the Paris to Roubaix cycle race, the best ever finish in a cobbled “classic” race by a New Zealander.
Pithie, 21, in his second season as a professional, did so after crashing during the race – a notoriously tough test of endurance and speed over 260km of road and cobbled sections which takes its toll on riders and cycles alike. Its nickname is the "Hell of the North".
Picking himself and his bike up, Pithie put his chain back on and attempted to catch the leading bunch but just failed in his quest.
He had been in the five-rider group chasing eventual winner Mathieu van der Poel but suddenly lost any chance of a podium spot.
“There’s a sense of disappointment for me. I can look back at my race and also be happy with seventh, but I could have been playing for the podium,” he told reporters afterwards, his face still covered in mud and blood after his race and crash.
“My head got big, I made a mistake, and I crashed, taking me out of that group,” he explained.
“I just went too fast into a gravel corner. I misjudged it and wiped myself out. I went full gas to try to come back but when you’ve got [Mads] Pedersen, [Nils] Politt chopping off, it’s hard to get back.”
Fortunately, his injuries appeared superficial. Pithie will now have a rest before preparing for the Giro d’Italia stage race in May and Olympic Games road race in Paris in August.
He has been described in the cycling media as one of the revelations of Europe’s spring classics, continuing a breakout season.
He won the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Classic in January. He then impressed at Paris-Nice, was 15th at Milan-San Remo and Classic Brugge-De Panne and showed an attacking mindset in nearly every race he entered.
His 2024 results place him in the top 15 of the rankings.
“I didn’t do the classics last year and so this is my first real classics season,” he said.
“I’ve had some really nice results and also been up front in the race with guys like Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert, so it’s good for the future.
“I'll come back to the classic next year and try to fight to win or be on the podium.”
New Zealand’s previous best finish in a cobbled classic was a 10th place by Hayden Roulston.
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