Team Quick-Step News
The Hell of the North was dry and dusty today. After a fast start of the race a group of 19 riders, with Maarten Wynants, escaped out of the peloton. Belgian champion Tom Boonen was always on the front of the bunch. Stijn Devolder made a good impression too, but was bothered by some crashes and mechanical troubles. Wouter Weylandt went down hard during one of the many crashes during this day.
Boonen attacked several times, which reduced the first group to only 20 riders. With 50 kilometres to go Fabian Cancellara attacked. Boonen had to chase, but saw the Swiss champion riding away metre by metre. Boonen got in a group with Leukemans, Hushovd and Flecha, but they couldn`t catch Cancellara anymore. The Swiss rider of Saxo Bank took his second win in Paris-Roubaix. More then 3 minutes later Boonen ended in 5th.
Boonen was very dissappointed after the race. "When Cancellara attacked, some riders didn`t want to chase. I was in the back of the group, so I had to ride to the front first and the started the chase. I went full speed on the cobbles, so did Cancellara. The gap wasn`t that big and I felt good, but there were 2 or 3 riders that didn`t want to work in the chase on Cancellara. Probably I couldn`t have beat him, but I didn`t get a fair chance to defend my chances", the Belgian champion told afterwards.
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