What can you say about Paris-Roubaix? It was exciting, intense and just plain brutal watching the world’s best cyclists suffer through 258kms/160mi defined by 27 sections of cobble. The wild ride ended with two laps around the Roubaix Velodrome where someone claimed the highly coveted cobble stone trophy weighing twice as much as the bike he rode in on.
That someone was dark horse Johan Van Summeran of the US based Garmin-Cevelo team. The Belgian domestique emerged as this year’s winner by hammering through the final kms of the grueling race known as “Hell of the North” to clear the finish :19 seconds ahead of favorite Fabian Cancellara (Leopard-Trek). Maarten Tjallingii (Rabobank) followed Cancellara with a 3rd place finish and Gregory Rast (Team RadioShack) finishing at a close 4th.
In his biggest career win, Van Summeran kicked up a lot of dust on the famed cobbles and left many of the elite riders scratching their heads. Pretty good for someone who didn’t even finish the race in 2010. The first thing he did when he crossed the finish line was propose to his girlfriend. This was a very real moment for pro cycling and important enough to be the first words out of Van Summeran’s mouth in the post race interview. Yet Versus completely ignored this and just asked the next (predictable) question. Stupid move; this could have been a perfect Drew Brees moment for cycling. Remember Drew Brees interacting with his son after leading the New Orleans Saints to a Super Bowl win? This became the game’s defining moment because it was a rare opportunity connecting a human emotion to the perfect fairytale victory. At a time when cycling is trying to emerge from the shadow of a retired Lance Armstrong, we need to show these defining moments to create relatable excitement around the sport. Hey Versus: I’m available to cover Tour de France and I’ll ask the right questions.
Fabian Cancellara rode strong and once again proved to be the man to beat. He executed brilliant attacks with about 45 kms left and then again in the final kms which led him to a 2nd place finish. But he had absolutely no support from his Leopard-Trek teammates. Most of them including Stuart O’Grady were DNFs. He was kept in check during the race's crucial moments by the Garmin-Cevelo squad who basically neutralized Cancellara to help shepherd Van Summeran to victory. No strategy, no support, no win for Fabian. Cancellara, who in my opinion is one of the classiest guys in cycling, told Velonation that he was happy to see unexpected and deserving domestique stand above him on the podium, stating: “I think to have a winner like Johan [Van Summeren] is great for cycling, great for this day; it had a lot of drama, a lot of spectacle," he explained. "He maybe woke up this morning and thought: ‘I’m going to ride for the team, I’m going to help,’ but in the end he won this race and that’s just amazing, and I’m really happy for him.” Regardless, the UCI WorldRankings were released yesterday and Cancellara's performance so far in the Classics as well as top three placings in Milan-San Remo, Flanders and Paris-Roubaix have earned him the #1 spot on this list.
For Quick Step, “Hell of the North” was just plain HELL. The team’s three time Roubaix winner Tom Boonen was plagued with mechanicals and a crash that ultimately resulted in his pulling out of the race. Sylvain Chavenel was also ended up in the DNF category resulting from two punctures and a crash.
On Saturday, the Tour of the Basque Country crowned Andreas Kloden (RadioShack) as this year’s overall winner. Kloden, who hasn't won Basque in 11 years, held steady throughout the Tour and sealed the deal in the Time Trial. The final stage also ended with Kloden’s teammate and the US’ own Chris Horner in 2nd place overall. Team RadioShack is amassing some big wins this year including Team Classifications in both Catalyuna and Paris-Nice. Team RadioShack is having an impressive season. In the UCI WorldRankings, Kloden jumped to #3 with Horner in 6th position. As a team, RadioShack has catapulted to #1 in the UCI rankings as a result to strong showings this season in the Tour of the Basque Country!
Also today Garmin-Cevelo announced that Heinrich Haussler will miss Tour de France and focus on preparing for the World Championships in the fall.
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