It's October 3rd, 2021, and the hellish Paris-Roubaix is being raced. Since the race of stones exists, this is the first edition held in autumn. The aftermath of the Covid-19 period has forced the UCI to revolutionize the calendar. At the Roubaix velodrome, 3 riders are competing with the following result: 1st Sonny Colbrelli, 2nd Florian Vermeersch, 3rd Mathieu Van Der Poel.

The velodrome's verdict is sensational because the winner is a very strong rider who had never attempted the race of stones before. It's a 31-year-old Colbrelli who wins the sprint, coming from behind against Vermeersch. Sonny has a face, European Champion jersey, legs and shoes covered in noble mud.

He is the triumphant winner of a difficult Roubaix, disturbed by rain, with the inevitable layer of mud that made the stones as slippery as soap and only 95 riders at the finish. Colbrelli rejoices, lying down crying in the center of the track.

It's the most beautiful day of his cycling career, and the Bahrain clan celebrates, having invested in the Brescia rider to obtain satisfaction.

In 1999, Andrea Tafi had triumphed in Roubaix wearing the Italian national jersey. Since then, Italy had been content with at most podium placements. Sonny brings Italy back to the top step of the podium. In subsequent years, only foreigners won: "Being the last Italian winner in Roubaix is a great emotion. An immense satisfaction". Colbrelli shows pride without selfishness: "I hope that after my victory, Italian fans won't have to wait another 22 years to celebrate the success of their favorite at Roubaix".

2021 is the golden year of Sonny's career: he won a stage in the Tour de Romandie, one in the Criterium du Dauphiné, the Italian Championship in Imola ahead of Fausto Masnada, then a stage and the overall classification of the Tour of Benelux, the European Championship in Trento ahead of Evenepoel, the "Pantani Memorial" and finally Roubaix. Sonny is also the first winner of Roubaix wearing the European Champion jersey.

Trentino rider Gianni Moscon led the 2021 Roubaix alone for long stretches, then a puncture and a subsequent slide on a treacherous section stopped him. Colbrelli, the generous Vermeersch, and Mathieu Van Der Poel dominated the finale. Obviously, VDP tried in a thousand ways to get rid of Colbrelli and Vermeersch. Besides not succeeding, Van Der Poel lost useful explosiveness for the decisive sprint. "10 kilometers from the finish - Colbrelli recalls - they told me the podium was definitely ours, and that already provided relief: any rider who starts in Compiegne, especially those who have never won in Roubaix, immediately signs up to finish in the top 3".

But it's better to aim for the most important result. "I'm sincere: when we entered the mythical velodrome, I was confident, aware of having a chance to win". In a very wet Roubaix, Colbrelli risked falling several times. He never fell. "2021 is the most beautiful year of my career. It's the year when all planets aligned in my favor. Everything went well, and that's why I won".

Keeping up with Van Der Poel was not Sonny's greatest effort in 2021. "The effort to win the European Championship in Trento, although a shorter race than Roubaix, was more intense". In the decisive European Championship sprint, the Brescia rider prevailed over Remco Evenepoel; they were the two breakaway riders. "Remco tried once, twice, three, 10 times to drop me on the uphill sections. I resisted with immense efforts, then beat him".

In 2021 at Roubaix, the debutant Colbrelli finished first: no one in the history of the race of stones had ever won on their debut, except obviously Josef Fischer in 1896, the first edition.

The 2025 edition of Roubaix will have a prestigious debutant: Tadej Pogacar. "Tadej can do it too - Sonny assures - succeeding on his first attempt is within his reach. I managed it also thanks to my quick finish. Pogacar has immense class, without being a sprinter, he can still triumph in Roubaix".

Besides Mathieu Van Der Poel, for Sonny there's another athlete with good chances of victory on Sunday: "As an Italian, I hope Filippo Ganna wins on Sunday: he has the qualities to succeed. He finished 8th at the Tour of Flanders, so he was up front. At Roubaix he can do even better, the race is much more suitable for a rider with his characteristics".

Currently, Colbrelli is a staff member of Bahrain-Victorious. His upcoming commitments as a DS will be Brabantse Pijl, Flèche Wallonne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Tour of Slovenia, Tour of Switzerland.

FINISH ORDER - 1. Sonny Colbrelli km 257.7 average 42.719 km/h; 2. Florian Vermeersch (Bel); 3. Mathieu Van Der Poel (Ned); 4. Gianni Moscon at 44"; 5. Yves Lampaert (Bel) at 1'16"; 6. Christophe Laporte (Fra); 7. Van Aert (Bel); 8. Tom Van Asbroeck (Bel); 9. Guillaume Boivin (Can); 10. Heinrich Haussler (Aus).