Current Articles | Archives | RSS Feeds | Search Sunday, April 8, 2012 Tom Boonen rides himself into legend with fourth Paris-Roubaix triumph by Ben Atkins at 10:32 AM EST

Categories: Pro Cycling, Spring Classics, Race Reports and Results, Paris-Roubaix Belgian solos for 53km to equal Roger De Vlaeminck’s record; Sébastien Turgot is first Frenchman on the podium in a generation Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) rode himself into the record books, and the legends of the greatest one-day race in the World, with an imperious fourth victory in Paris-Roubaix. The Belgian, who took the previous week’s Ronde van Vlaanderen in a three-way sprint, forced himself clear of the rest of the race favourites with 53km to go, and rode alone to the historic velodrome. With Omega Pharma-Quick Step teammate Niki Terpstra disrupting the chase behind him, Boonen managed to open up a lead of more than one and a half minutes as he rode into the finish.



With four Paris-Roubaix victories, Boonen equals the great Roger De Vlaeminck’s 35-year-old record, and becomes the most successful Cobbled-Classic rider in history. He has also become the first rider to have won the Flanders-Roubaix double twice, and is the only rider to have won the two cobbled Monuments, Gent-Wevelgem and the E3 Prijs in the same season.



“I was not really thinking about these records or these victories,” said Boonen afterwards. “I was really working hard to be on my top level these two or three weeks. I was already happy to have reached this level and I didn't have any big crashes this year so far. When I started winning [E3 Prijs] Harelbeke I knew I would be good for others.



“When I look back on these two or three weeks, it's been amazing,” he continued. “It's my second double and I realise now I am the only one who did this 'double' two times. I realise now I am maybe be the best guy to ever ride on these cobblestones, on these roads. It's special, but think I need some time. My career isn’t over yet."



Boonen attacked with Terpstra with 56km to go, but his Dutch teammate was not able to follow the Belgian’s accelerations on the next cobbled sector at Auchy-lez-Orchies, leaving him a long, solo ride to the finish.



“I was not planning on this,” Boonen said of his solo win. “But when I arrived in front with Niki and he dropped off, I was thinking 'OK, I already have Flanders. Why not try to win my fourth Paris-Roubaix in a very special way?' I started battling myself. The wind was not really helpful, but with 30 seconds I thought 'OK, it's also hard for everyone else'.



On the last few cobbled sectors a chase group of Lars Boom (Rabobank), Juan Antonio Flecha (Team Sky), Alessandro Ballan (BMC Racing) and Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ-BigMat) formed, but could make no impression on Belgian. Ladagnous suffered a late puncture, and the remaining group of three was caught by Terpstra and Sébastien Turgot (Europcar) as they began the final lap of the velodrome. Turgot took the sprint for second, ahead of Ballan - in a photograph reminiscent of Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle’s 1993 victory over the late Franco Ballerini - to take France's first podium in the race since Frédéric Guesdon’s 1997 victory.



“I was only afraid there was a fresh rider coming, like Pippo Pozzato or Ballan,” Boonen said.



Rather than catch the Belgian however, the chasing group drifted further back, giving Boonen a final margin of victory of 1’39”.



"I was thinking a lot about my girlfriend [Lore Van De Weyer] who is working on our house," he said. “I thought about her a lot during the final and this victory is for her.”



A tailwind start sees the break go late



The race rolled out of Compiègne under overcast skies, with a brisk tailwind that meant the first hour was ridden at an average of 48.4kph, and none of the many attempts to escape the peloton was successful. After 67km however, Kenny Dehaes (Lotto-Belisol) and Frederik Veuchelen (Vacansoleil-DCM) managed to forced themselves clear; they were joined by Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), Yaroslav Popovych (RadioShack-Nissan), Veuchelen’s Vacansoleil-DCM teammate Bert-Jan Lindeman, David Boucher (FDJ-BigMat), Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank), Dominik Klemme (Argos-Shimano), Laurent Mangel (Saur-Sojasun), Aleksejs Saramotins (Cofidis) and Grischa Janorschke (Team NetApp) and the break of the day was formed.



As much of the peloton paused for a “comfort break” the break was allowed to open up a significant lead and, as they reached the first sector of cobbles at Troisvilles - section 27 - after 97.5km, the twelve riders were 4’10” ahead. Over the next few sectors the gap opened a little further, reaching its maximum at 130km - just past the race’s halfway point - of 4’35”.



A crash in the peloton on the Aulnoy-lez-Valenciennes sector with 110km to go brought down a number of riders, including Guesdon, riding his last ever race. The 1997 winner was soon back on his bike however, but faced a fight to make his way back up to the peloton, which was being led by the BMC Racing Team; steadily winding up the pace and easing the breakaway back.



With 100km to go, the leaders’ advantage was down to 2”42”, as the decisive section of the race was about to begin.



The Arenberg Forest destroy the hopes of many as usual



As the leaders hit the famous Arenberg Trench, with less than 90km to go, their lead had dropped to little more than two and a half minutes. Janorschke spectacularly slipped on the damp cobbles and came down, bringing Van Keirsbulck and Popovych down with him.



Team Sky had led the peloton through the village of Arenberg, but as the cobbles arrived Boonen took over and began to string the bunch out on the terrible surface. Behind him, both George Hincapie (BMC Racing) and André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) punctured - as Dehaes did up ahead, making it a disastrous sector for the Belgian team.



Boonen’s teammate Sylvain Chavanel took over into the second half of the 2.4km sector and, as the the French champion rejoined the tarmac, the gap to the leaders was down to 1’45”. Behind him, the peloton was in pieces, as teammate Gert Steegmans came forward to take the lead.



The group up front had been reduced to just eight riders, thanks to the crashes and punctures of Arenberg, and, in response to the Omega Pharma-Quick Step aggression, Ballan, Flecha, Ladagnous, Turgot, Jimmy Casper (AG2R La Mondiale) and Maarten Wynants (Rabobank) fought their way clear of the front.



The counterattacking group quickly made its way towards to the eight leaders with 70km to go, but Steegmans put in a massive turn and led a group up to them. With 66km to go, as Steegmans was still fighting to close the gap, the break was finally caught, and Chavanel promptly attacked.



The French champion was joined by Turgot, Mangel, Ladagnous and Michael Schär (BMC Racing). The five riders did not get far ahead, thanks to a chase from Team Sky and Vacansoleil-DCM but, before they were caught, BMC Racing’s captain Thor Hushovd came down on a roundabout. The former World champion was the only faller in the strange incident, but his race was now effectively over.



Chavanel punctures but Boonen attacks



Just as the group was about to be caught, on the Orchies sector, with less than 60km to go, Turgot attacked, and disaster struck Chavanel as he suffered a puncture. Boonen chose this moment to attack however, with Terpstra on his wheel, and with Pozzato in tow the two teammates escaped. Ballan managed to fight his way up to the group, which in turn caught up with Turgot, but as they left the cobbles the Belgian kept the pressure on and the two Omega Pharma-Quick Step riders rode away from the others.



On the Auchy-lez-Orchies sector, with 53km to go Boonen left the former Dutch champion behind, and set off alone for the finish. A crash for Pozzato and Stijn Devolder (Vacansoleil-DCM) in the chase group behind disrupted its rhythm and reduced its numbers further.



With 40km to go Boonen had a lead of 40 seconds but, as another group bridged up to the chasers behind, it brought the Team Sky presence up to four. Terpstra was there too now though, and the Dutchman began to do what he could to block the British team’s chase.



In pursuit of Boonen were: defending champion Johan Vansummeren (Garmin-Barracuda), Terpstra, Boom and Maarten Wynants (both Rabobank), Ballan, Flecha, Edvald Boasson-Hagen, Mathew Hayman and Ian Stannard (Team Sky), Luca Paolini (Katusha), Ladagnous and Turgot.



It's Boonen vs Team Sky and the Belgian is winning



With 35km to go Stannard dropped back, having given his all, but as Boonen crossed the short cobbled sector at Templeuve with 33km to go, his lead had grown to 53 seconds.



On the Cysoing sector, as he passed under the 25km banner, Boonen forced his lead over the magic minute as he powered over the cobbles. Hayman was leading the three-man Sky train, but making no progress.



Flecha decided that it was time to take the front though, pulling Vansummeren, Ballan and Boom clear, just as Jacopo Guarnieri (Astana) and Matteo Tosatto (Saxo Bank) joined the chase group from behind.



On the tarmac roads on the approach to Camphin-en-Pévèle Boom changed his bike, climbing onto his cyclocross bike for the challenging last cobbled sectors. As Boonen hit the sector, passing 20km to go his lead topped 1’20” and kept growing.



Flecha and Ballan pulled away again as they hit the sector, with Boom chasing across once more. The Dutchman promptly escaped and began to close the gap a little, cutting it to 1’10” on the Carrefour de l’Arbre; Flecha, Ballan and Ladagnous were just a few seconds behind him.



With 15km Boonen’s lead was 1’09”, which grew again to 1’14” as he left the final tough sector at Gruson. Boom was caught by the three chasers, and Ballan was the next to give chase, but Boom and Flecha wouldn’t let him get away.



Podium dreams for Ladagnous disappeared though, as he punctured - having to take a wheel from the neutral service bike - and the others rode away from him.



With 10km to go, as Boonen rode across the railway crossing that saw Leif Hoste, Peter Van Petegen and Vladimir Gusev disqualified in 2006, he was 1’22” clear, which rose again to 1’33” as he hit the last real sector at Hem.



While it was not a tough sector, it had been the cause of many punctures in the past; having ended Museeuw’s dream of a fourth victory in the 2004 edition. With his team car right behind him however, Boonen would have had time for a wheel or bike change, but the Beglian suffered no such problems.



History awaits Boonen as the velodrome is in sight



The chasers were now no longer working together, as they sized up one another for the second step on the podium.



Into the final five kilometres Boonen was beginning to tire, having to get out of the saddle as he took each corner on the way into Roubaix. On the final drag up towards the velodrome the Belgian began to grimace through his Museeuw-style goatee, but on the descent down the other side he began to smile and pointed four times to the TV camera bike.



As he approached the final, gentle sector of cobbles at the entrance to the velodrome, he held up four fingers.



He sprinted around the first half-lap, raising his fist to the crowd as he crossed the line to take the bell, and stayed in the drops all the way around the final lap. On the finishing straight he finally sat up, raised four fingers again, and then both arms together as he crossed the line.



“The velodrome finish line, it's the only one where you can do two laps where all the people are," said Boonen. "It's the only finish line where you have one kilometre where you can bond with the people that are there. It's just just such a special race.



“Paris-Roubaix, only one race like it in the world,” he added. “A race like this needs a special finish. I think changing this finish line would be very stupid. It's almost more Paris-Roubaix - finishing here - than the cobblestones. I was really enjoying my two laps."



Boom led the chasing trio onto the track, but Terpstra and Turgot caught them, just as the took the bell. In the back straight the Dutchman opened up, but was passed by Flecha leading; Turgot came past with Ballan however, with the Frenchman taking the first home podium since 1997.



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Subscribe via RSS or daily email Contact the editor about this article Paris-Roubaix (WorldTour) Results: Compiègne to Roubaix, 257.5km: Click on the arrows at the top of the column to sort the race results. Country Result Name Team Time BEL 1 Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma - Quickstep) 05:55:22 FRA 2 Sébastien Turgot (Europcar) 00:01:39 ITA 3 Alessandro Ballan (BMC Racing Team) s.t. ESP 4 Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky Procycling) s.t. NED 5 Niki Terpstra (Omega Pharma - Quickstep) s.t. NED 6 Lars Boom (Rabobank Cycling Team) 00:01:43 ITA 7 Matteo Tosatto (Team Saxo Bank) 00:03:31 AUS 8 Mathew Hayman (Sky Procycling) s.t. BEL 9 Johan Vansummeren (Team Garmin - Barracuda) s.t. BEL 10 Maarten Wynants (Rabobank Cycling Team) s.t. ITA 11 Luca Paolini (Katusha Team) s.t. FRA 12 Matthieu Ladagnous (Equipe Cycliste FDJ - BigMat) s.t. SUI 13 Gregory Rast (RadioShack - Nissan) 00:04:23 NOR 14 Thor Hushovd (BMC Racing Team) s.t. USA 15 Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing Team) 00:04:37 FRA 16 Steve Chainel (Equipe Cycliste FDJ - BigMat) s.t. BEL 17 Kevin Hulsmans (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia) s.t. LAT 18 Aleksejs Saramotins (Cofidis - Le Credit En Ligne) s.t. FRA 19 Jimmy Casper (Ag2R - La Mondiale) s.t. ITA 20 Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team) s.t. FRA 21 Jimmy Engoulvent (Saur - Sojasun) s.t. LTU 22 Ignatas Konovalovas (Movistar Team) s.t. ITA 23 Jacopo Guarnieri (Astana Pro Team) s.t. BEL 24 Stijn Vandenbergh (Omega Pharma - Quickstep) s.t. FRA 25 Damien Gaudin (Europcar) 00:04:58 NZL 26 Hayden Roulston (RadioShack - Nissan) s.t. FRA 27 Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma - Quickstep) s.t. FRA 28 Adrien Petit (Cofidis - Le Credit En Ligne) 00:06:22 USA 29 Tyler Farrar (Team Garmin - Barracuda) s.t. FRA 30 Jean-lou Paiani (Saur - Sojasun) s.t. SWE 31 Gustav Erik Larsson (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team) 00:06:25 AUS 32 Heinrich Haussler (Team Garmin - Barracuda) s.t. NED 33 Maarten Tjallingii (Rabobank Cycling Team) 00:06:27 FRA 34 Mickaël Delage (Equipe Cycliste FDJ - BigMat) 00:07:46 DEN 35 Kasper Larsen Klostergaard (Team Saxo Bank) s.t. GER 36 Marcus Burghardt (BMC Racing Team) s.t. SUI 37 Michael Schar (BMC Racing Team) s.t. FRA 38 Saïd Haddou (Europcar) s.t. FRA 39 Sébastien Minard (Ag2R - La Mondiale) s.t. CRC 40 Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (Movistar Team) s.t. BLR 41 Yauheni Hutarovich (Equipe Cycliste FDJ - BigMat) s.t. NOR 42 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky Procycling) s.t. USA 43 George Hincapie (BMC Racing Team) s.t. FRA 44 Johan Le Bon (Bretagne Schuller) 00:07:48 FRA 45 Lloyd Mondory (Ag2R - La Mondiale) 00:07:50 NED 46 Tom Leezer (Rabobank Cycling Team) s.t. CAN 47 David Veilleux (Europcar) 00:09:09 SLO 48 Borut Bozic (Astana Pro Team) 00:09:11 NED 49 Bert-jan Lindeman (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team) 00:09:37 ESP 50 Imanol Erviti Ollo (Movistar Team) s.t. GBR 51 Ian Stannard (Sky Procycling) s.t. BEL 52 Frederik Veuchelen (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team) s.t. AUS 53 Stuart O' Grady (GreenEdge Cycling Team) s.t. CAN 54 Dominique Rollin (Equipe Cycliste FDJ - BigMat) s.t. NED 55 Bram Tankink (Rabobank Cycling Team) s.t. GER 56 Christian Knees (Sky Procycling) 00:11:07 NOR 57 Alexander Kristoff (Katusha Team) s.t. BEL 58 Stijn Devolder (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team) s.t. DEN 59 Michael Morkov (Team Saxo Bank) s.t. ITA 60 Daniel Oss (Liquigas - Cannondale) s.t. GER 61 Rüdiger Selig (Katusha Team) s.t. RUS 62 Alexander Porsev (Katusha Team) s.t. GER 63 John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) s.t. GER 64 Danilo Hondo (Lampre - ISD) 00:13:05 FRA 65 Arnaud Labbe (Cofidis - Le Credit En Ligne) s.t. NZL 66 Jesse Sergent (RadioShack - Nissan) s.t. COL 67 Leonardo Fabio Duque (Cofidis - Le Credit En Ligne) s.t. FRA 68 Gael Malacarne (Bretagne Schuller) s.t. FRA 69 Julien Fouchard (Cofidis - Le Credit En Ligne) s.t. SLO 70 Blaz Jarc (Team NetApp) s.t. GER 71 Andreas Schillinger (Team NetApp) s.t. ARG 72 Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Team Saxo Bank) s.t. BEL 73 Kenny Dehaes (Lotto - Belisol Team) s.t. NED 74 Jos Van Emden (Rabobank Cycling Team) s.t. NED 75 Jens Mouris (GreenEdge Cycling Team) s.t. BEL 76 Maxime Vantomme (Katusha Team) s.t. GER 77 Andre Greipel (Lotto - Belisol Team) s.t. DEN 78 Anders Lund (Team Saxo Bank) s.t. ESP 79 Jon Izagirre Insausti (Euskaltel - Euskadi) s.t. FRA 80 Sébastien Chavanel (Europcar) s.t. FRA 81 Laurent Mangel (Saur - Sojasun) s.t. ITA 82 Manuel Quinziato (BMC Racing Team) s.t. BEL 83 Bert De Backer (Argos-Shimano) s.t. BEL 84 Sep Vanmarcke (Team Garmin - Barracuda) s.t. BEL 85 Gert Steegmans (Omega Pharma - Quickstep) 00:17:17 AUT 86 Bernhard Eisel (Sky Procycling) s.t. ESP DNF Adrian Saez De Arregi (Euskaltel - Euskadi) ESP DNF Alan Lezaun Perez (Euskaltel - Euskadi) ITA DNF Alan Marangoni (Liquigas - Cannondale) BLR DNF Aleksandr Kuschynski (Katusha Team) FRA DNF Alexandre Pichot (Europcar) GER DNF Andre Schulze (Team NetApp) GER DNF Andreas Klier (Team Garmin - Barracuda) KAZ DNF Assan Bazayev (Astana Pro Team) AUS DNF Baden Cooke (GreenEdge Cycling Team) AUS DNF Brett Lancaster (GreenEdge Cycling Team) NED DNF Coen Vermeltfoort (Rabobank Cycling Team) ITA DNF Cristiano Benenati (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia) ITA DNF Daniele Bennati (RadioShack - Nissan) SUI DNF Danilo Wyss (BMC Racing Team) ITA DNF Davide Cimolai (Lampre - ISD) KAZ DNF Dmitriy Gruzdev (Astana Pro Team) KAZ DNF Dmitriy Muravyev (Astana Pro Team) USA DNF Edward King (Liquigas - Cannondale) BEL DNF Edwig Cammaerts (Cofidis - Le Credit En Ligne) ESP DNF Egoitz García Etxegibel (Cofidis - Le Credit En Ligne) ITA DNF Federico Canuti (Liquigas - Cannondale) ITA DNF Filippo Pozzato (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia) FRA DNF Florian Vachon (Bretagne Schuller) ESP DNF Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Movistar Team) BEL DNF Frederik Willems (Lotto - Belisol Team) ITA DNF Giacomo Nizzolo (RadioShack - Nissan) NZL DNF Gregory Henderson (Lotto - Belisol Team) GER DNF Grischa Janorschke (Team NetApp) FRA DNF Guillaume Blot (Bretagne Schuller) BEL DNF Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Omega Pharma - Quickstep) BEL DNF Iljo Keisse (Omega Pharma - Quickstep) USA DNF Jacob Rathe (Team Garmin - Barracuda) FRA DNF Jean Luc Delpech (Bretagne Schuller) BEL DNF Jens Debusschere (Lotto - Belisol Team) FRA DNF Jeremie Galland (Saur - Sojasun) GBR DNF Jeremy Hunt (Sky Procycling) ESP DNF Jesús Lopez Herrada (Movistar Team) DEN DNF Jonas Aaen Jorgensen (Team Saxo Bank) SLO DNF Kristjan Koren (Liquigas - Cannondale) FRA DNF Laurent Pichon (Bretagne Schuller) ITA DNF Leonardo Giordani (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia) ITA DNF Luca Ascani (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia) BEL DNF Maarten Neyens (Lotto - Belisol Team) GER DNF Marcel Sieberg (Lotto - Belisol Team) SUI DNF Martin Elmiger (Ag2R - La Mondiale) ITA DNF Massimo Graziato (Lampre - ISD) FRA DNF Mathieu Halleguen (Bretagne Schuller) ITA DNF Matteo Bono (Lampre - ISD) ITA DNF Matteo Trentin (Omega Pharma - Quickstep) AUS DNF Matthew Wilson (GreenEdge Cycling Team) ITA DNF Mauro Da Dalto (Liquigas - Cannondale) GER DNF Michael Schwarzmann (Team NetApp) BEL DNF Nico Sijmens (Cofidis - Le Credit En Ligne) UKR DNF Oleksandr Kvachuk (Lampre - ISD) ITA DNF Oscar Gatto (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia) ESP DNF Pablo Lastras Garcia (Movistar Team) ESP DNF Pablo Urtasun Perez (Euskaltel - Euskadi) FRA DNF Pierre Cazaux (Euskaltel - Euskadi) NED DNF Pim Ligthart (Vacansoleil - DCM Pro Cycling Team) ESP DNF Ricardo Garcia Ambroa (Euskaltel - Euskadi) ITA DNF Roberto De Patre (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia) FRA DNF Romain Lemarchand (Ag2R - La Mondiale) FRA DNF Rony Martias (Saur - Sojasun) ESP DNF Ruben Plaza Molina (Movistar Team) BEL DNF Sander Cordeel (Lotto - Belisol Team) FRA DNF Sebastien Duret (Bretagne Schuller) BEL DNF Sebastien Rosseler (Team Garmin - Barracuda) FRA DNF Stéphane Poulhies (Saur - Sojasun) FRA DNF Steve Houanard (Ag2R - La Mondiale) CAN DNF Svein Tuft (GreenEdge Cycling Team) ITA DNF Thomas Bertolini (Farnese Vini - Selle Italia) GER DNF Timo Seubert (Team NetApp) NED DNF Tom Stamsnijder (Argos-Shimano) NED DNF Tom Veelers (Argos-Shimano) LTU DNF Tomas Vaitkus (GreenEdge Cycling Team) FRA DNF Tony Gallopin (RadioShack - Nissan) KAZ DNF Valentin Iglinskiy (Astana Pro Team) UKR DNF Vitaliy Buts (Lampre - ISD) RUS DNF Vladimir Isaychev (Katusha Team) FRA DNF William Bonnet (Equipe Cycliste FDJ - BigMat) FRA DNF Yannick Talabardon (Saur - Sojasun) UKR DNF Yaroslav Popovych (RadioShack - Nissan) FRA DNF Yohann Gene (Europcar)

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