'It's so, so hard. I just want to cry' - Lidl-Trek left fruitless at Paris-Roubaix Femmes despite multiple attacks

It's fair to say that the bike racing gods often favour hard work and perseverance, but the Hell of the North is an exception to that rule, as Lidl-Trek found out at Saturday's Paris-Roubaix Femmes.

The squad consisted of several potential race winners in their own right in Emma Norsgaard, Ellen van Dijk and Elisa Balsamo, alongside inaugural winner Lizzie Deignan, who returned to the scene of her monumental victory for the first time in five years.

However, despite sizeable attacks from both Norsgaard and Van Dijk, neither could make their move stick amidst dusty conditions in the French sunshine.

It looked as if the Dane was going to establish a healthy gap when she powered off the front of a reduced pack with 35km remaining and a two-star pavé sector, Templeuve, approaching.

However, despite building up a lead in the region of 20 seconds, she couldn't do anything about the pace of multi-discipline talent and eventual-winner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike), who bridged across with 20km to home and subsequently dropped Norsgaard.

Speaking to the media in the velodrome after she came home in 14th place, the Danish rider was caked in dust but accepting of her performance.

"I knew I was already losing the energy a little bit [when Ferrand-Prévot bridged across.] But I was still dreaming when she dropped me that I could pull off the roof," she admitted.

Reflecting on the occasion as a whole, and the chaos that comes with Paris-Roubaix Femmes, Norsgaard left her emotions on the table, adding: "It's so, so hard. It's like I've been everywhere really, and I just want to cry."

"I think it's absolutely disgusting, this race. I truly believe it," she remarked, with reporters struggling to tell how serious she was being. 

The 25-year-old wasn't the only rider from the team to put a dig in and activate the race, as time trial specialist Van Dijk tested the resolve of her rivals on the pavé of northern France earlier on.

Finishing 20th in the end, Van Dijk attacked off the front of the peloton and briefly became the lone leader of the race with just over 50km remaining.

However, she couldn't match the infernal pace being set behind by the likes of Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) as they split the bunch and reeled her in by the time the 11th sector, Mons-en-Pévèle, was tackled. 

Former world champion Balsamo would ultimately deliver the best result for the team, as the ninth rider to cross the finish line in Roubaix. 

Deignan, who led the peloton into the opening pavé sector, closed out her account at the race with a 55th-place finish, 9:59 back on the race winner.

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