Femke Markus raced into the entrance of the Vélodrome André-Pétrieux as part of the winning breakaway at Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift, but her dreams of triumph came crashing down when her bike slipped out from under her, and she hit the ground as the bell rang on the final lap, dashing all hopes of a victory.
"This is going to keep me awake for a long time," a devastated Markus said after the race.
It was just three-quarters of a lap to go, and Markus was preparing for the final sprint for the victory of the third edition of Paris-Roubaix Femmes.
She was among a seven-rider breakaway that made it to the end, but as she rode down toward the blue band - cote d'azur - on the track, which was wet from earlier rain, a rider in front skidded slightly, and Markus' front wheel slipped causing her to go down.
Canada's Alison Jackson (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) went on to win the sprint to take the victory, with Katia Ragusa (Liv Racing-Teqfind) in second and Marthe Truyen (Fenix-Deceuninck) in third.
"I got a push, and then my wheel slipped. I couldn't do anything anymore, and I went down. I was extremely bummed. We came here to win. It feels especially bad for me and for the team," Markus said.
Up until that point, Markus was part of the day's decisive move that initially had 18 riders and set off the front just 20km into the 145.7km race. Even before they reached the first sector of pavé sector 17 - Hornaing to Wandignies - they had pushed their lead out to five minutes.
A chase group reshuffled behind, and as the breakaway dwindled due to fatigue, Markus was still one of the seven who remained intact as they entered the velodrome, along with Jackson, Ragusa, Truyen, Eugénie Duval (FDJ-SUEZ), Marion Borras (St Michel-Mavic-Auber93) and Marta Lach (Ceratizit-WNT Pro Cycling).
The chase group that included Markus' SD Worx teammate Lotte Kopecky, last year's winner Elisa Longo Borghini (Trek-Segafredo) and Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) were just 12 seconds behind and passed Markus on the track as she remounted her bike to finish 19th.
Kopecky had come into the Paris-Roubaix Femmes as the overwhelming favourite after winning a second consecutive Tour of Flanders the weekend before. However, she too experienced bad luck, crashing at the Pont-Thibault to Ennevelin with 37km to go in the chase group.
"I couldn't move. I was in a lot of pain after the fall and initially feared my ankle was broken. I didn't think I could continue. In the end, I got back on the bike, and then it went better and better. It proves that in Paris-Roubaix, it's never done," Kopecky said.
Although the chase came to within 10 seconds of catching the breakaway in the closing kilometres, the connection was never made, and Kopecky ended up winning the chase-group sprint for seventh place.
"I can't blame myself for anything," Kopecky said. "Without that fall, we will definitely be back at the front. I felt very strong, even after the fall. But in Paris-Roubaix, the bad luck factor also plays a big role now. Next year I will come back. One day I will manage to win here."
