Wow.

Good summary. Thought Boonen had it. Guy who did the least won but that's bike racing.

Great last 10km of that race.

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Suffer Well.

Bike racing is messed up, man.....
Hayman is cool. Good on him.

watching him post race it looked like he didn't even realize or think he had one it. I can't believe how close tommy was to a fifth, that is just crushing.

He played his hand to win, good on him. No wonder Boonen couldn't come by with all the work he did.

Last 10k was epic racing. Can't remember so many blows being thrown like that. Heck of a lot more exciting than watching Peto ITT for 15k.

+1 My legs feel shot after just watching that.


Even last 60 to 50 km were more exciting. Not to take away from Flanders as that was good to watch -- but it didn't leave me exhausted like this one did.

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It doesn't really matter what Phil is saying, the music of his voice is the appropriate soundtrack for a bicycle race. HTupolev

I know, I need a nap after watching that, just so I can actually go ride my bike later.

Sagan makes the Sports Center top plays of week honor roll: http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/...cellara-crash-220438

Tony Martin won the race for the front group

Understand there is an augment for that but the winner was always in front of Tony Martin. All Tony Martin did was bring up the other four. I'd say Tony Martin got the podium for Boonen and Stannard.

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It doesn't really matter what Phil is saying, the music of his voice is the appropriate soundtrack for a bicycle race. HTupolev

As usual Paris-Roubaix lived up to it's expectations and did not disappoint at any level.

The race had it all. The drama. The tension. The surprises. The rise of some veterans and pre-race favorites. The fall, literal and figurative, of the heros, and as it often does a surprise winner in Matt Hayman who combined a superlative effort, with being at the right place at the right time, with an early roll-of-the-dice. As it turns out, getting in that established break, while perhaps part of a grander master-plan for Orica-GreenEdge, proved to be the winning formula for Hayman and the team.

Ironically, Hayman, the race winner was the only one of the finally five-some, that seemed "out of place" - Boonen, Van Marcke, Stannard and Boosen-Hagan, were all part of a short list of fancied riders who, could be serious contenders for the win.

One interesting side note - all three podium placers, Hayman, Boonen, and Stannard are bigger men/riders physically - three of the bigger riders in the whole of the pro peleton

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Did you see the failed bunny hop of Team Sky over Team Sky on the previous crash? The guy nearly made it, but couldn't quite clear him.

I hate Phil and Paul, but Paul actually made one good call in the last 5-8K when the attacks were flying fast and furious. And that was that Boassen-Hagen was toast. He came out of the saddle to chase an attack and instantly plopped back down and had to find a wheel of someone else to go after it. When the Sepmarcke caught the 2 just before the velodrome and then Stannard and Boassen-Hagen got back on literally on the track, you would think it was all Boassen-Hagen at that point. But he had nothing at all to give.

Yeah, was watching it while on trainers...saw that moment and said to my buddy "That was one of those 'Nope...don't have it, you go get him' moments!" You stand up, try and go and just sit right back down.....

I didn't think it was a great race overall.....last 10K were great, but that really had nothing to do with the nature of PR. Strange tactics all-around....ETIXX going that early, FC and Sagan letting them go that long, both missing the bridge from Vanmarcke (2 weeks in a row for FC missing a bridge opportunity with SVM), etc.

Last 5 guys were definitely all taking their turns having a go though....that was great.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

SO pissed off to see FC crash, him and Sagan prolly would have bridged eventually.
Last 10K was the best P-R finish I've ever seen!
Happy to see an old guy like Hayman win (he's 38 years old)

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res, non verba

Keep in mind that if FC hadn't gone down it likely would have been a totally different race. They were only 0:30 down at that point, and with FC, PS, and a Trek teammate involved, good chance they would have closed it down. But once it was PS with a full minute to close and no help from his chase group, the front group had it made.

Is SVM's team owner going to give him shit and say he's overpaid for constantly being top 5 but never the winner, ala Oleg with Sagan?

Well, I don't think SVM has a Sagan-sized contract, so.....probably not.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

The irony of the race today lies in the insane hammering that Sky and Etixx did throughout the race for no real reason, only to both lose again, well at least the 20/20 version. Not sure why they missed the early move again, in particular FC. I am guessing that was the plan by Etixx and Sky, try and make an early move and catch some of the favorites off guard. Pretty terrible last classics race for FC. At least we can be confident in a clean winner ;)


I think there is always the winner and then the "peoples choice" winner, sometimes they are the same. Today Boonen deserved the win, the dude did an unbelievable amount of work and still finished second.

Considering Sky and Etixx were 2/3 of the podium, hard to be too critical of their tactics.

Hindsight is 20-20. There are endless attacks at 150km to go that come to nothing, so to have missed the one that actually came to fruition is not inexcusable. And, again, PS and FC were in good position to be back on, though it would have taken work and they'd have been up there with no teammates. But, still, had they been on with 40km to go, all would have been forgotten that they had missed the break.

Hell, I would have let that break go to....LONG way to go. Ride tempo, keep it in check and then go for the kill after they burn their matches.

But I think everyone misjudged how strong that break was and / or how hard the conditions would get....FC and Sagan only really made one big attempt to bridge...after that,Mir looked like everyone was fighting a pretty stiff headwind that helped keep things in check. Some of those sections of cobbles looked like they were in slow-mo.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

Sep's team doesn't have a single oligarch semi-boss/manager like Tinkoff. And about 1/3 of the budget probably. So no ;) Today was probably one of the better days for LottoNL Jumbo I think in terms of numbers and visibility. Ok, Sep didn't have anyone with him in the final 40k but only Sky had some, and as we've all seen, Skybots don't work in rain or mud.

2011 RvV, also an epic last 8k or so after Gilbert attacked on the Bosberg and got brought back. ~10 riders throwing attacks one after another. Some real tactical s*** there.

Hayman played it perfectly, chapeau to him.

 
Love Sep's heart. Kept on coming. If he just sat tight a bit......knucklehead.....but I guess he didn't want to lose in the velodrome and he took the fight to them. Good on him.
How about Rowe going endo, letting go of the bars and hitting and rolling like a Ninja. And then getting back on. Bad man...
Afterwards, Hayman: "conserve, stay safe, conserve,". Smart ride and things came to him.
Boonan is a warrior. So close. Hope he keeps riding for others on Ettix and has some fun. Guys can learn a lot from him.
Cannondale boy Dylan van Baarle I think tried to work for Sagan and blew. He had a good Flanders. Kind of thought Giant and a couple of others could have worked in that group. Maybe they did, or maybe they just couldn't, and mailed it in.
Love seeing the bigger guys get some.
I thought EBH had more. Guess he was fakin' it tryin' to make it.

Paul does a nice job covering for Phil, who is really kind of not all with it after all these years. Very kind and classy.

Such a tough race. It's amazing how many big names never make any noise in Roubaix. Cobbles.

Anyone mention the fact that Hayman was riding a Foil? All these manufacturers and cycling news outlets make big news about new technology and how much better/ faster their bike is one the cobbles ( new domane/ pinarello k8-s) and matty Hayman wins on a "uncomfortable" aero road frame?!

I did notice and thought, "Josh from silca( formerly @ Zipp) always says to pick bikes based on color". If I get another bike it'll be an S3 and I'll race it in gravel grinders just to fuck with people:)