Leif Hoste (Discovery Channel, DQ after finishing second)
"This is ridiculous. They had 15 km to tell us, but no-one did that. The crossing closed just before we got there. They should have said something to us in the race, but not after. It's definitely against the sprit of the race. What can you do? Protest against the UCI? I don't think that it will do anything."
Peter Van Petegem (Davitamon-Lotto, DQ after finishing third)
"I've still proved that I'm not done with yet. Cancellara was the strongest, if not, then we would have gotten back to him. Because of the wind it was a very tough race and when Flecha attacked a few times, the legs started to hurt."
On his disqualification, Van Petegem said, "I haven't put the other riders in danger. OK it's a serious error. In Belgium they do it differently. Here you get disqualified."
Luke Roberts (CSC, DNF)
Luke Roberts was part of the winning team, but his race ended after the Arenberg Forest when he gave his wheel to teammate Allan Johansen, who had punctured. It was the only mechanical problem that CSC had all day.
"For me I was a little disappointed at how I ended up," Roberts told Cyclingnews. "Up to that point it was quite good. We were all working well as a team for Fabian. We had big confidence in him. Right from the start, it was the plan to put him up the front.
"I'd done a lot of work in the first 100 km. There was one dangerous split in the peloton when we had to ride pretty hard to come back. At Arenberg I gave my wheel to Allan Johansen - he had better legs for the finish. It's a decision we had to make. By the time I waited for the cars to come, I was a few groups back. So I stopped after the second feed. There was not much I could do from there.
"I got to the velodrome in time to watch the last 15 km on TV, seeing Fabian riding alone. It was a huge buzz."
Next up for Roberts was a little celebration at the team hotel in Kortrijk: "We'll have a bit of a party together with the team. Next week it's back to business as usual. I'll race in Herne Hill for the Good Friday meet in London, then have another couple of weeks break until Dunkirk in May."
Wilfried Peeters (DS QuickStep)
"It was a silly situation. But it was also a dangerous situation and rules are rules. Ballan also wanted to ride through quickly, but Boonen held him back. Luckily, otherwise Ballan would have ended up under the train."
"I was disappointed because after Wallers I expected to have two more men up front. But I can't take anything away from Cancellara's win."
Dirk Demol (DS Discovery Channel)
"We had bad luck all day, particularly with Hincapie's fork breaking and then the disqualifications. I don't understand it. The places between one and seven were determined. Nothing would have changed."
