Official thread: Paris-Roubaix

[Merckx]

Wow, Flecha can't buy a win..

 

[the pope]

Boonen look tired, hope they will catch him

blijven dromen makker

 

[the pope]

he passes the railway (y)

 

[skidmark]

Did you see the fans booing Pozzato? Unreal.

Poor, poor Flecha... it's a war of attrition, and Boonen benefitted from being on front while people behind him were crashing.

 

[jaylew]

This sucks, it was setting up to be a great finish.

What a crappy way for the race to end.

 

[beestrong]

Ok, the king is the king,
booing is sad!

Hushovd for 3rd !!! HÅper

 

[beestrong]

GRATULERER TOM BOONEN!!!! 3PEAT!!!!!!!!!!!

have great evening everyone

 

[Jasper]

You can't say he didn't deserve this win, he was obviously the best man in the race.

 

[the pope]

You can't say he didn't deserve this win, he was obviously the best man in the race.

absolutely, he made all the decisive moves today

 

[El Loto]

He's a pro at following all the lines. SCORE!

 

[jaylew]

You can't say he didn't deserve this win, he was obviously the best man in the race.

Possibly, but a couple of the other riders in the break looked awfully strong as well - it would have been fun to watch it all play out. Oh well...

 

[Merckx]

Well done Tom! Wanted him to win this one =D

 

[the pope]

Hoste is very ****ed off because of flecha
"He was speculating, and then he apparently couldn't steer as well"
"He shouldn't come too close to me today"

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

Oh boy. Tom is going to demolish my win record in Roubaix. He's only about half way through his career.

 

[Anonymous]

and that is why PR is still the best one day race in the world..

 

[Zoncolan]

Boonen was the strongest, though I would have loved seeing Hushowd and Pozzato in the velodrome with him.
Would have made for some finish

 

[bianchibuddy]

COZZA! Nice 1st ride for the young American!

Nice ride Cozza, 64th on you first Paris-Roubaix! I look forward to many years of strong George Hincapie like rides for this future Classics star!

 

[bianchigirl]

Surely you'd prefer him to actually have a chance of winning wouldn't you

Great race - looked like Silence Lotto would finally win one (though Hoste and Van Summeren were arguably the weakest out of the group of 6) and Hoste is reportedly furious at Flecha who he sees as causing the crash. But the cobbles belong to Boonen.

It was all about how the luck goes - Hincapie punctured at the wrong time again then had a shocker of a wheel change. Boonen punctured at an equally critical time but the bike was et up for him and all he had to do was change and go. He was strong enough to pound his way across the cobbles not having to rely on the gutter and thus hitting a barrier like Hushovd. He was lucky but he made his own luck - he put in 5 or 6 attacks that forced the final selection. He absolutely deserved that win.

 

[shnhdsn]

The cyclingnews race report says this:

"Hushovd's mistake cost him an excellent chance at victory, as he is undoubtedly the stronger sprinter of the two."

Is this referring to Boonen? If it is, I surely would not agree.

 

[mr. tibbs]

Possibly, but a couple of the other riders in the break looked awfully strong as well - it would have been fun to watch it all play out. Oh well...

Yeah, it would have been fun if there were other animators there, but the only people that did any real attacking were Flecha (Once, with Hushovd following him) and Boonen.

Every significant move was initiated by Boonen. The others all looked very strong and in good form--on Boonen's wheel.

I'm not trying to be snarky, I just think Boonen was the clear favorite and clearly the strongest. And since every other contender's strategy seemed to be to sit on his wheel and try to eke out a victory, I think it's fitting that he blew the group apart again and again like a hand grenade. Or--dare I say it--a Tornado.

(P.s.: Did anyone else find the CN report a little overly poetic?)

 

[slowoldman]

I would have liked to see a battle between, Boonen and Hushovd. I think Thor might have had Tom's number today in a sprint finish. I was disappointed that crashes opened the gaps.

 

[amatoer]

hushovd

I think hushovd could give Boonen a battle to the front if i have not lost the race in the left turn.
I think that this race give a advatage to Boonen with all the people in the road trying to stop the contenders to Boonen.

I hope that the race leaders trying to do somthing with this next year.

 

[hulkgogan]

Hoste is very ****ed off because of flecha
"He was speculating, and then he apparently couldn't steer as well"
"He shouldn't come to close to me today"

He should have done his fighting out on the course. It's bike racing, Paris Roubaix for fuxsakes, crashes happen. Not accepting that is an easy way to rationalise one's own suckiness and shows why Hoste will never be a champion. Plus his head is way too small for his body. Looks like the dude from Beetlejuice.

Make Van Summeren a protected rider next year for crying out loud! I'm sick of seeing this poor ******* bust his gut for whingers.

 

[St. Elia]

that was an amazing race for sure and I also wanted to see a finish with Pozzato Hushovd and Boonen, but it was not to be. Boonen was the man I have to admit and he deserved the win clearly. The way he powered the last 15 km was awesome and you could see that no one could make time on him and then in the end they gave up. He was the clear winner and he didn't need to sprint this time!

 

[Jasper]

I think hushovd could give Boonen a battle to the front if i have not lost the race in the left turn.
I think that this race give a advatage to Boonen with all the people in the road trying to stop the contenders to Boonen.

I hope that the race leaders trying to do somthing with this next year.

What are you insinuating? Hushovd fell because he missed the curve and rode his wheel into the barriers (that are there to stop anyone from bothering the riders, any rider), all because Boonen's furious pace pushed him to take risks in every turn if he wanted to keep up to his wheel. It's a bit pathetic to blame the spectators alongside the road for blowing Hushovd's chances on victory, and also a bit stupid to assume that they're all voting for Boonen and therefore having bad intentions towards every other rider. The conditions are the same for everyone.

I would have loved to see a royal sprint between Hushovd and Boonen (and perhaps even Pozzato) on the vélodrôme, don't get me wrong. Hushovd was amazingly strong (especially considering his wrist injury), and was never shy to do his part of the work. And there's no way of telling who would have taken the win there, although my gut feeling says Boonen would have finished it just as well. But Boonen going solo was completely his own merit, seeing he was in first place when both crashes occurred, meaning he pushed the others so hard they made fatal mistakes.