Yves Lampert's hopes of a podium finish in Paris-Roubaix were dashed in dramatic circumstances when he collided with a spectator along the roadside in the final sector of the cobbled streets of Hem and crashed.

Quick Step Alfa Vinyl's Lampe, who was chasing the eventual winner Dylan van Baar (Ineos Grenadier) with Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious), hit a spectator who was applauding from the roadside with 8km to go.

Lampert desperately tried to get his body upright, but fell heavily. He quickly recovered, but was forced to restart on a neutral bike and eventually arrived at the Roubaix stadium in 10th place, 2:59 behind Van Baar.

The Belgian's frustration was evident at the finish, but he admitted that he was already in contention for third place at the time of the crash.

"Today was certainly not the strongest," Lampaert told Sporza (open in new tab). When I got away from Mohoric, I felt like I didn't have much left in me, and third place was the best I could do."

"I had reached my limit. That's what I told Mohoric. I would have been really happy to be on the podium."

Lampert was running on the smooth cobblestone shoulder of Hem when he bumped into the outstretched hand of a supporter who was applauding on the inside of a curve.

"It shouldn't happen in a race. It's a shame," Lampert said. 'I wanted to cut that right-hand curve, and normally the supporter would move back. But that guy put his arm forward and hit my arm. As a result, I lost control of the bike and couldn't get up."

Lampert described the supporter in question as a "calf," adding that the incident could have cost him a podium finish.

"If you don't know anything about racing, stay home. For me it was a dramatic event." Mohoric and van Baar were stronger than me, but third place was achievable."

"It was a great race.

Lampert is not the first Quick-Step rider to suffer such a setback in the Paris-Roubaix finale: nine years ago, Stein Vandenberg crashed into a spectator at Carrefour de l'Arbre and Zdenek Stibal also hit another spectator after a kilometer or so. collided with another spectator a kilometer into the race and was out of the winning stream.

Lampert was Quick-Step Alphavinir's best finisher in a breathless Paris-Roubaix. Julien Alaphilippe and Remco Evenpoel will look to give the team's spring a different wind this week in Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.