British rider Lizzie Deignan won the inaugural women's Paris-Roubaix cycling race on Saturday with a solo breakaway across the muddy, cobblestoned mining roads
Deignan entered the Roubaix velodrome alone to win the race in 2hrs, 55mins and 3sec, raising her arms in triumph after a courageous 80km solo break on a race known as 'the Hell of the North'.
"I just feel so incredibly proud. Women's cycling is at a turning point and this is part of history," said Deignan before picking up her prize of a mounted cobblestone. "I'm so proud I can say I'm the first ever winner," she said on the eve of the 118th edition of the men's race. Trek-Segafredo rider Deignan broke away even before the race reached any of the 30 cobbled sections, totalling 29.2km of rough-hewn stones in Picardy, and rode confidently even when her back wheel spun out of control in mud.
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