Paris-Roubaix 2024 LIVE – Mathieu van der Poel defends his cobblestone crown, Mads Pedersen and Tom Pidcock both contenders

Sector 28 is Viesly à Quiévy is *** but extremely muddy following the incessant rain this spring. Tim Merlier, who went down in that earlier crash, has come to a standstill. It's hard to see if he crashed again or needs mechanical assistance. But you won't bet on him making it to the velodrome at this rate, poor chap.

Our man on the motorbike is Germany's former breakaway specialist Jens Voigt, who gave this update a bit earlier...

The breakaway starts the first of 29 cobblestone sectors with a gap of 1'20" over the pack. Troisvilles to Inchy is 2.2km long with a rating of ***.

Early puncture for Christophe Laporte, the European champion at Visma-Lease a Bike, who will need a wheel change. Alpecin-Deceuninck have stretched things out with a fierce tempo on the front.

Alpecin-Deceuninck arguably have the second favourite on their books in Jasper Philipsen although MvdP's biggest challenge could come from Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Stefan Kung (Groupama-FDJ), Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) and Christophe Laporte (Visma-Lease a Bike).

Other names to watch are John Degenkolb (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL), Tim Wellens and Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates), Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers), Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious), Yves Lampaert and Kasper Asgreen (Soudal-QuickStep), Luza Mozzato (Arkea-B&B Hotels), Oliver Naesen (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Alberto Bettiol (EF), Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies), and Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek).

The 24-year-old wasn't meant to be riding Roubaix but after he pulled out of Itzulia because of a crash while doing a recon of the opening TT, Pidcock decided to mix up his programme. This will be his senior debut at the race he won as a junior. No junior winner has ever gone on to win the main event - but the Ineos Grenadier leader hopes that will change today.

Rajovic and De Bondt have finally managed to bridge over to the breakaway which is now nine strong ahead of the first section of cobbles, which is coming up in under 20km. The gap is 1'30" over the peloton, which is being controlled by Alpecin and Lidl-Trek.

We heard about those personal stats earlier regarding Mathieu van der Poel emulating Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara - but should he or team-mate Jasper Philipsen win today, then their Alpecin team will become the first team to win the first three Monuments of the season. Philipsen, of course, won Milano-Sanremo while MvdP won Flanders last weekend.

The world champion Mathieu van der Poel and his big rival Mads Pedersen are currently in a small group riding back towards the peloton after both riders took the opportunity to answer a call to nature. It looked like Van der Poel also changed his bike at that point - although we're pretty sure he wasn't involved in that earlier crash, the effects of which are still being felt within the peloton as more and more riders - some really bashed up - do their best to return to the fold.

The Belgian must have gone down in that crash because he's got a big bandage across the back of his bib shorts - not just to stem some blood from a nasty gash, but to preserve some modesty. He changed his bike in that crash and has now stopped to change back to his race bike after vital alterations were made.

Here's that interview I mentioned earlier on in the live as the world champion mulled over his chances for today - including his thoughts on the controversial chicane ahead of the Arenberg.

The Belgian "is more naked than dressed," according to Jens Voigt, our man on the moto.

As a result of that crash the gap has grown to 1'25" for the breakaway. Those two men - Rajovic and De Bondt - are still 30 seconds down and stuck in no man's land. The peloton is being controlled by the Alpecin-Deceuninck team of favourite Mathieu van der Poel, while Lidl-Trek also have a man there for their man Mads Pedersen. That man, of course, is Tim Declercq, the infamous breakaway hunter who used to ply his trade for Soudal-QuickStep. Meanwhile, numerous riders and groups are trying to chase back on after their involvement in the spill that ended the race of both Viviani and Rutsch.

Confirmation that Elia Viviani will take no more part in today's race after that crash. The Italian veteran is also joined by Jonas Rutsch of EF Education-EasyPost. It looks like Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) and Sam Welsford (Bora-hansgrohe) also went down but are able to continue. Jonathan Milan - my outside tip for the day - went down but it back on his way. The Italian got very angry with a press photographer in the melee afterwards.

There's been a big crash in a town - caused it seems by a touch of wheels along with parked cars on the left and a raised kerb on the right. Elia Viviani (Ineos Grenadiers) and Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) are among 20-odd riders to hit the deck. That could be curtains for Viviani, who is making his first appearance in this race since 2017.

Our seven leaders (Hagenes, Tiller, Asgreen, Haller, Slock, Syritsa and Malecki) have 38 seconds on the peloton. In pursuit, Dries De Bondt has joined Rajovic. They are 30 seconds down.

Many riders have tried to bridge over - without success - to the break, including Andrea Pasqualon (Bahrain Victorious). His team-mate Dusan Rajovic is the latest to have a pop, with a couple more now trying to join the Serbian champion in pursuit.

Norwegian veteran Alexander Kristoff - twice a top 10 finisher in Roubaix - has been very active but he's not among a move of seven that has now opened up a gap of around 10 seconds. His Norwegian Uno-X team-mate Rasmus Tiller is there along with Per Strand Hagenes (Visma-Lease a Bike), Ben Swift (Ineos Grenadiers), Kasper Asgreen and Warre Vangheluwe (Soudal-QuickStep), Marco Haller (Bora-hansgrohe) and Liam Slock (Lotto Dstny).

CORRECTION: Swift and Vangheluwe are not there. Instead it's Gleb Syritsa (Astana) and Kamil Malecki (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team).

The riders face 259.7km today between Compiegne and Roubaix, of which 55.7km play out over 29 sectors of jagged bone-jangling cobblestones. It’s a dry and mild day with the sun now burning through the mist but rain last week mean those cobblestone sections are still caked in mud and the off puddle can still be seen beside the road. The first section of cobbles at Troisville doesn’t come until just before the 100km mark.

The latest wave of attacks has seen a move of around 12 riders open up a small gap on the peloton as the riders hit a straight road through some dense forest. Ivan Cortina is among them, the Spaniard who impressed for Movistar last week in Flanders - until a mechanical issue / slip of the wheel banjaxed his efforts on the infamous Koppenberg, around the time Van der Poel rode clear towards victory. It looks like this move won't stick, though, so we're back to square one again. A very fast start. Would we see record speeds at the finish today?

Ineos debutant Andrew August is, at 18 years and 178 days, the youngest rider in the peloton today by over a year. His team also have the oldest debutant in 36-year-old Ben Swift. American rider August, indeed, has never ridden a race longer than 198.7km and so, should he go the distance, he'll be adding 60km to his record. The duo will be there to ride in support of leader Tom Pidcock who, at 24, is also making his debut.

Dylan van Baarle was not the only rider who did not take to the start today. Michael Vink (UAE Team Emirates) and Michael Morkov (Astana) also don't feature today and so their respective teams start with just six riders.