Bradley Wiggins challenges but John Degenkolb wins Paris-Roubaix

Wiggins put in a gutsy attack inside the final 35 kilometres of the gruelling 253.5km race – but Giant-Alpecin’s Degenkolb became the first German since the race’s first edition in 1896 to win the Hell of the North.

Having closed the gap to Belgians Greg van Avermaet (BMC) and Yves Lampaert (Etixx-QuickStep) with just eight kilometres remaining, Degenkolb proved the strongest out of a leading seven-man group in the Roubaix velodrome.

Van Avermaet was forced to settle for third place behind runner-up Zdenek Stybar of Etixx-QuickStep. Lars Boom (Astana) and Martin Elmiger (IAM Cycling) completed the top five.

Degenkolb, 26, became the first rider since Irishman Sean Kelly in 1986 to win both Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix in the same season.

“This is the one race I always dreamed of winning,” an emotional Degenkolb said before mounting the podium to receive the coveted cobblestone trophy.

“It’s unbelievable. I had to work very hard for it. My team had to control the situation for the entire day. We knew it would be hard and that it was likely to be a big group at the finish. I was not afraid to fail and that was the key.”

Wiggins bowed out of professional road cycling with his head high, the 2012 Tour de France winner animating the race with an attack in the business end of the race before finishing in a main chasing group 31 seconds down on the impressive Degenkolb.

EARLY BREAK: A strong tailwind helped produce a fast start to the race as nine riders managed to extricate themselves from the peloton. Sean De Bie (Lotto Soudal), Gregory Rast (Trek Factory Racing), Adam Blythe (Orica-GreenEdge), Alexis Gougeard (Ag2R-La Mondiale), Aleksejs Saramotins (IAM Cycling), Pierre-Luc Perichon (Bretagne-Seche), Tim Declercq (Topsport-Vlaanderen), Frederik Backaert (Wanty) and Ralf Matzka (Bora Argon 18) opened up a maximum lead of nine minutes under a blue sky and warm spring sunshine.

An average speed of 50.4km/h in the opening hour saw the peloton make light work of the tarmac roads ahead of the first of 27 sectors of cobbles (adding up to a total of 52.7km – around 20% of the race in total).

The Etixx-QuickStep team of defending champion Niki Terpstra shared patrolling duties on the front of the peloton with Giant-Alpecin and Team Sky, who had high hopes for Wiggins, Ian Stannard and the in-form Geraint Thomas.

But Sky were dent a blow ahead of the key Arenberg cobbled section, with Thomas picking up a flat on the approach and Wiggins dropping towards the back of the strung-out peloton.

Drama came with 85km remaining when the barriers came down on the road with the passing of a TGV train destined to Paris. A cluster of riders – including three from Team Sky – managed to duck under the barriers, or ignore the instructions of a race commissaire, to cross the lines before the train zipped past.

Moments later Thomas then hit the deck hard after colliding with the curb on a tight right-hand bend. Winner of E3 Harelbeke a fortnight ago, Thomas fought hard to return to contention, but the Welshman could not reproduce the form that saw him ride to a top ten finish last year. Thomas eventually was forced to withdraw from the race.

COUNTER ATTACKS: The lead of the break was slowly coming down as the race hotted up behind. De Bie was first to fall after suffering a mechanical in the Arenberg. Blythe and Matzka were next to falter – by which time Etixx had wrested control of proceedings.

The Belgian team upped the tempo with 70km remaining, using five men to drive a fierce pace out of cobbled sector 14 before subsequent crosswinds tore through the peloton and created havoc behind.

With a cluster of big names stuck in a chasing group – including Wiggins and Tour of Flanders winner Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) - Stijn Vandenberg (Etixx) put in a solo dig with 45km remaining in sector 11 at Orchies.

Vandenbergh made his move shortly after former winner Johan Vansummeren (Ag2R-La Mondiale) had crashed and Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) had tested his own legs with a little surge off the front.

Vandenberg caught Blythe and Matzka with 40km remaining shortly after Wiggins had managed to ride back into contention on the front of the main pack.

WIGGINS THROWS THE DICE: With 32km remaining, Wiggins threw down the hammer with an attack in sector seven at Templeuve-Moulin de Vertain, prompting a response from Belgian national champion Jens Debusschere (Lotto Soudal).

The pair soon caught Vandenbergh just as another Etixx rider, Czech national champion Stybar, joined the party to create a dangerous-looking elite four-man chasing group.

By now, the break – down to five riders after Declerqc picked up a puncture – were on the wane after seeing their lead drop below the minute mark. They were caught with 23km remaining, shortly after the pack had managed to reel in the Wiggins foursome.

Fourth last year, Sep Vanmarcke (LottoNL-Jumbo) launched an attack which shook up the streamlined lead group. But the Belgian suffered an unlucky puncture just as Jurgen Roelandts (Lotto Soudal) and Borut Bozic (Astana) surged clear.

DEGENKOLB KEEPS HIS COOL: Roelandts led the race going onto the famous Carrefour de l’Arbre sector after dropping Bozic on the approach. Wiggins was among the chasing riders but it was Belgian duo Van Avermaet and Lampaert who managed to soar ahead and reel in Roelandts.

Belgian Bert De Backer’s subsequent attack paved the way for Giant-Alpecin team-mate Degenkolb to launch his own decisive move, the German deciding that it was a case of now or never.

“When you are already the fastest guy then the others don’t want to work with you and pull you to the finish and so I decided to just go for it,” Degenkolb admitted afterwards.

Degenkolb dropped De Backer and managed to catch the leading duo with 6km remaining. But their lead of 25 seconds came tumbling down when there was a breakdown in cohesion between the new leading trio.

First Stybar managed to fight back on, before Keukeleire, Elmiger and Boom joined to make it seven riders ahead. Wiggins and Sky team-mate Rowe tried their best to lead the chase behind, but the gap was just too large.

The final cobbled section in Roubaix posed no problems for the leaders, who swept into the velodrome with half a minute to play with. Youngster Lampaert opened up the sprint early for Etixx team-mate Stybar, but Degenkolb had too much pure power for his rivals.

Stamping ferociously on the pedals, Degenkolb pulverised his fellow leaders to win the third monument of the season - and his second - by two bike lengths. Pumping his fists, he roared and looked to the clear blue sky as he crossed the line.

Lampaert finished seventh behind Keukeleire while the impressive Rowe was the first of the chasing riders to cross the line, coming home 28 seconds down for seventh ahead of Debusschere and Kristoff. Vanmarcke took eleventh, Terpstra fifteenth and Wiggins eighteenth.

Sagan, who was forced to change bikes with 5km remaining after an inopportune mechanical issue, brought up the rear of the chasing group, in 23rd place.

It was far from a vintage edition of Paris-Roubaix, but Degenkolb ensured that the finale of 2015 race lived up to its billing as one of the most exciting dates on the calendar.