Sandra Alonso rides to 10th place at Paris Roubaix Femmes

In the 2nd edition of Paris Roubaix Femmes, 23-year-old Spanish rider, Sandra Alonso finished in 10th place.

On the 16th April 139 riders rolled out of Denain in Northern France for the 2nd edition of Paris Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift and faced 124.7km of gruelling, epic racing along with 17 cobble sectors totalling 29.2km of pavé.

CERATIZIT - WNT Pro Cycling lined up with a strong team, Maria Giulia Confalonieri, Marta Lach, Kathrin Schweinberger, Lara Vieceli and debutants, Franziska Brausse and Sandra Alonso. 

Shortly before the first cobbled sector of the day, Kathrin Schweinberger was caught in a crash and fortunately doesn't suffer any major effects of the crash, whilst Maria Giulia Confalonieri was caught behind a crash, and whilst chasing back to the peloton was involved in a crash and also suffered a puncture during the race -- such is the nature of the hell of the north. 

Sandra Alonso and Marta Lach were in a select group of riders in the final 20 kilometres of the race and as the kilometres ticked down and the fatigue set in, Alonso was apart of a small group of riders trying to catch the solo leader, Elisa Longo Borghini. 

Loosing touch with that group on the 5* cobble sector, Carrefour d'lArbre, the 23-year-old Spanish rider from Torrevieja continued to battle her way to the finish and entered the iconic Roubaix Velodrome with 4 riders. The quartet battled it out for the top 10 placings, with Alonso taking 10th place -- astonishing when her first time riding the brutal cobbles was only two days prior to the race.

"It was so hard, but so much fun." Sandra said, speaking after the race. "I am super happy with my first edition of riding Paris - Roubaix, I came into the race very nervous and scared of what to expect, but that's because it's Paris Roubaix. I was focused, concentrated and motivated to do a good job, and I'm happy I could do a good race."

"I felt strong and I had luck, which is what you need in this race. I was able to follow the first riders and the strong moves, then this gave me even more motivation."

"To finish in 10th place at Paris Roubaix, it's a career highlight and the biggest result of my career so far."

Sandra Alonso finished in 10th place, 2'22" behind winner Elisa Longo Borghini, with Marta Lach in 22nd at 4'02".