Politt: “Losing against Gilbert is not a shame”

April 14 ^th 2019 - 18:44

Nils Politt (Katusha Alpecin), 2nd of Paris-Roubaix 2019: “I was never disappointed today. It’s my fourth year and to get 2nd in Paris-Roubaix, losing against Philippe Gilbert, who won the World Championships and so many races, it’s not a shame. I wanted to start the sprint from the back but Philippe (Gilbert) played his card with Yves Lampaert coming from the back. He started before me but in the end I think Gilbert had the best punch for the sprint. I did it as a U23 and crashed five times but still after that I told my father this was a race for me. Roubaix means a lot to me, I really like this race. My improvements show it’s a good race for me and I’m really looking forward to next year. I thought Gilbert would attack me before the end. I figured my only chance to win would be in the sprint. It didn’t happen that way.”