British rider Lizzie Deignan won the inaugural women's Paris-Roubaix bike race on Saturday with a solo breakaway
across the muddy, cobblestoned mining roads where many of her rivals suffered
nasty falls.

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.
Dutch rider Marianne Vos was second at 1min 17sec with Italy's Elisa Longo
Borghini third at 1min 47sec.

Able to soak up the cheers on the two laps of the velodrome the 32-year-old
mother of a toddler eased over the line in a composed manner, while several of
her competitors wept at the finish line.

"I just feel so incredibly proud. Women's cycling is at a turning point and
this is part of history," she said.

"Every fan watching is also making history. It proves there's an appetite
for women's cycling and the athletes here can do one of the hardest races in
the world," she said.

"I'm so proud I can say I'm the first ever winner." 

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.

With the 132 riders spread out over the course, Dutch star Vos accelerated
in pursuit of Deignan with 18km to go, sparking a nasty series of falls among
the riders behind her on mud-slick cobbles.

The race itself was originally scheduled for April 2020, then put back to
April 2021 only to be postponed a second time due to covid.