Todays Paris - Roubaix started with several attacks, but the bunch did not allow any breakas. Francaise des Jeux
rider Matthieu Ladagnous made the most significant move in the early part of the race after 11 kilometres but after an
attack of nine kilometres the French rider was caught again.
Finally three riders broke off before the first
cobbled section in Troisvilles. The riders in the breakaway groupw were: Matthe Pronk (Collstrop), Jan Kuyckx (Landbouwkrediet
- Tönossteiner) andTinkoff's Alexander Serov. Belgian rider Pieter
Ghyllebert (Topsport Vlanderen) tried to jump to the three escapees but was caught by the bunch again.
At the first cobblestone section the three escapees
had a lead of 3 minutes and 5 seconds on the bunch. After 121,5 (cobblestone section 24) kilometres the breakaway group had
a maximum lead of 5 minutes and thirty seconds. Shrtly before that Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) abandoned the race at the
feeding zone.
CSC and Cofidis worked hard to reduce the lead of the three race leaders and before the legendary
cobblestone section of Arenberg, the lead of the break dropped to 3 minutes and 30 seconds.
Liquigas rider Filippo Pozzato and Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank) crashed before Arenberg and
had to chase the first part of the bunch where all other favourites started the fight for victory.
The bunch was split into several groups and at Arenberg the first part of the bunch with about
30 riders accelerated, the gap was only 2 minutes and 30 seconds. In the chasing group were riders like O’Grady,
Breschel, Cancellara, Johansen, Ljungqvist (CSC), Langeveld (Rabobank), Wesemann (Collstrop), De Vocht, Roelandts, Van Summeren
(Silence Lotto), Fischer (Liquigas), Boonen, De Jongh, Devolder, Hulsmans,Weylandt (Quick Step), Hincapie, Eisel, Hammond
(High Road), Ballan (Lampre), Krauss (Gerolsteiner), Grabsch (Milram), Scheirlinckx (Cofidis), Mengin (FDJ), Clerc, Martias
(Bouygues Telecom), Cooke (Barloworld) and Maaskant (Slipstream).
Serov and Kuyckx, who punctured, were the first
riders of the breakaway group who were caught, but Pronk continued solo. But not for long, the Dutch rider was brought
back after cobbled section 15 in Brillon (km 186).
Shortly before section 13, Flecha, followed by Pozzato,
Servais Knaven High Road and winner of the 2001 edition of the race) and Tom Veelers returned into the leading part of the
bunch.
After section 12 in Orchies, Sebastian Langeveld (Rabobank) crashed in spectacular fashion, and three other riders
followed him in the ditch, including Hincapie. Shorty before that crash it seemed as if Langeveld and the three others would
start off the true battle with an attack on one of the cobbled stone roads with a little bit more than fifty kilometers
from to go.
After a strong move by Johan Van Summeren (Silence
- Lotto) in cobblestone section 11, a group of eight favourites took shape with 51 kms to go.
AND THEN THERE WERE
THREE
The eight were Van Summeren and Leif Hoste (Silence - Lotto), Tom Boonen and Stijn Devolder (both Quickstep), Stuart
O’Grady and Fabian Cancellara (both CSC), Alessandro Ballan (Lampre and Dutch young gun Martijn Maaskant (Slipstream
Chipottle).
In the infamous Mons-en-Pevele cobbled zone (after 211 kilomtres), Tour of Flanders winner Devolder attacked.
Defending champ O’Grady was the only one to react and he caught Devolder with 44 kms to go. The Tour of Flanders winner
and the Paris-Roubaix holder were reined in six kms later as Hoste led the chase.
O’Grady, Devolder and Hoste paid
fort their efforts and were unable to move when Cancellara moved up a gear with 35 kms to go in Templeuve, followed by Boonen
and Ballan.
The three titans were left on their own to battle
it out for victory. Their lead steadily increased and they kept together until the finale on the Velodrome in Roubaix. Ballan
led the way but Boonen surged with 200 metres to go and was far too strong for his two rivals. The Belgian won the Queen of
Classics for the second time after his initial 2005 success.
Boonen was huge pressure in the last couple of weeks and was exited about todays victory.
Boone said: "Its no fun if everybody says you are not good enough. A lot of rubbish was said but this is no revenge on the
critics, its a beautiful victory."
Boonen continued by saying: "This year I was a little bit stronger as I was in the
past years. Its risky if you concentrate on only two classics, but if you succeed it only makes it more beautiful."
The former World Champion explained: "On the moment I attacked I surely wasn't the best rider
in the break. The escape with the three of us was perfect and I was feeling stronger and stronger."
"The final 25 kilometres I saw that they [Ballan and Cancellar, editor] weren't fresh anymore.
Cancellara had cramps. They were sufferin," Boonen said.
"At Carrefour de l'Arbre I demolished them. I never had any doubt," Boonen concluded.
"I think the whole team including myself did really great in this year's edition of Paris-Roubaix.
Of course I'd hoped to win this one, but Tom Boonen was stronger than me once we reached the Velodrome. I tried to drop them
a couple of times on the cobble stones, but when I couldn't the only thing left to do was to wait and battle it out at the
Velodrome," said Cancellara after the race and continued.
"I'm not disappointed loosing to a rider of his caliber and
on the whole the entire team has every reason to be proud of the spring we've had. A big thanks to my teammates, who put me
in a position, where I was able to compete for the victory out there today. Everyone on the team has a share in the results
we've achieved in this season so far," the winner of the 2006 edition of the race said.
"I think it was a great race and we did well both as far as tactics and strength go. We were
up front like we should be and even though we didn't win today, we did our absolute best and that's all anyone can ask. During
the final five kilometers Fabian Cancellara reported back to us that his entire body was cramped up and he wasn't able to
attack anymore, so he had to take the duel in Roubaix. But hey – we'll try again next year," smiled CSC team manager
Bjarne Riis.
Slipstreams 24-year-old Dutch rider Martijn Maaskant finisehd fourth in his Paris-Roubaix
debut. Maaskant’s trainer, Sports Physiologist Adrie van Diemen was thrilled with the young athlete’s performance
today.
"I’m so glad that Martijn managed to be in top shape for his most preferred top classic races. Flandres 12th and
now Paris-Roubaix 4th," said van Diemen. "There are only a few professionals who have done this in their first year as a pro.
Martijn was in top condition today and was able to make the best of each opportunity. Fantastic!"
