Three Trek-Segafredo racers finished top 10 in the first-ever Paris-Roubaix Femmes. But this race was about far more than results.
Rain fell from grey clouds as the women of Trek-Segafredo raced onto the first of 17 cobblestoned sectors on a grueling 116-kilometer course. The fabled pavé of Northern France became slick and treacherous, but this did not slow the racers. They expected nothing less from Paris-Roubaix.
Ask any cycling fan, and they’ll tell you there’s a special kind of reverence around this one-day Monument. Paris-Roubaix boasts a 125-year history of heroism, beauty, and triumph. But until 2021, something was missing from the tradition: women.
For women’s cycling and the wider world of sports, the first-ever Paris-Roubaix Femmes was a culmination of lifetimes of perseverance. For Trek-Segafredo’s Lizzie Deignan, forever the first-ever winner, it was a milestone more meaningful than any bike race.
“Never Look Back” is an intimate portrait of the day the professional women’s peloton took on Paris-Roubaix. Watch the film to get a behind-the-scenes look at this monumental moment in cycling history.
Scenes from a historic day
Lead image by Getty Sport. Photos below by Jojo Harper.
I spotted a gap on the left, and I sprinted through it and into the cobbles. … And I never looked back.
– Lizzie Deignan
It’s quite surreal when you win a big race like that. Suddenly, how you’ve been in this kind of tunnel vision for over 100k, and then the bubble is burst and there’s just noise and attention. And somehow you do kind of want to just bow your head and just have a moment for yourself. And I think in that photo that’s what I’m doing — I’m just taking a moment for myself, taking a breath, and letting it settle in what just happened.
– Lizzie Deignan
That shower photo — obviously to non-cycling friends it’s a difficult one to explain, but it’s so iconic because there have been so many photos of men doing that for years, and the photos are often dramatic and you can see the kind of suffering that was etched on the faces of the men, and that they’re washing away that pain. And there’s this underestimation of women for so long, for 125 years, and finally we got to kind of wash that away. And that’s how it felt in the showers. It was like, “This is our time.”
– Lizzie Deignan
There was a collective joy at having Roubaix — at finally being able to tackle it, to take it on, to have the respect that we deserve that we are able to take on The Hell of the North.
– Lizzie Deignan
Entering the velodrome is something special … I still can picture the moment. …Inside my head, I heard the ring and the French commentator, I could imagine his words …
– Elisa Longo Borghini
The first time I rode into the Roubaix velodrome was magical. It has such a history, this race. I always watch it on TV — and just to be there for the first time and ride your bike there? Yeah, that really gave me goosebumps. It was very special.
– Ellen Van Dijk
When I crossed the line and saw Lizzie there, I started screaming so loud and hugging her with my bloody hands. … Lizzie was smiling, Audrey was crying, I was screaming. I think it was a show of emotion, we never actually had so much.
– Elisa Longo Borghini
We all knew it would be hectic, there would be crashes, there would be mechanicals. So the plan was to be in front and go from there. We all know that anything can happen in this race.
– Ellen Van Dijk
I was so happy and at the same time so tired. … It’s painful, it’s good, it’s a lot of feelings at the same time. Only sports can do that.
– Audrey Cordon-Ragot
