Bahrain Merida's Heinrich Haussler was the best placed Aussie in 20th, followed closely by Hayman (Mitchelton-Scott) in 22nd.
Haussler fought strongly at the front of the favourites' bunch for over 200 kilometres and for a while there we fought off sleep by dreaming of another fairytale.
But it all slipped away up the road on the back of a rainbow. Hayman too fought strongly at the front of the main bunch until the Sagz attack, 56 kilometres from the velodrome.
“I was having a fairly good day but then just ran out of legs," Hayman said. "I was able to follow those key guys but I wasn’t able to make a difference. That’s Roubaix, you spend a lot of energy getting through important sectors and then the race really starts.”
For the other Aussies, it was a mixed bag. Luke Durbridge, strongly positioned for much of the race, was taken out of contention by a mechanical and finished 59th. Mitchelton-Scott's main hope for the day, Italian Matteo Trentin crashed out on the Wallers sector, with 100 kilometres still to race.
Teammate Alex Edmondson never made it back to the front after being caught up in an early crash and DNF'd. Mitch Docker's 63rd is its own legendary tale of dogged domestique duties for his EF Education First-Drapac team.
And Brenton Jones' DNF (Delko Marseille Provence) belies his early valiant breakaway attempt on debut at Paris-Roubaix.
But may all future Australian contingents remember the Hayman fairytale - he won on his 15th attempt - and what dreams may still come.
