Roubaix too much for Austrians

Paris-Roubaix didn't quite turn out the way that Austrian riders Paco Wrolich of Gerolsteiner and Rene Haselbacher of Astana had hoped.

After the tenth section of cobblestones, Wrolich had a big problem. "The palms of my hands were totally scraped off. I have two huge blisters on the right hand," he wrote on his personal website. "The conditions were extreme. When I finished I felt as if had smoked four packs of cigarettes, the dust was so bad. I couldn't ride with the leaders because of the blisters, and part of the time on the last cobbles I couldn't even hold the handlebars."

He finished 49th, about nine and a half minutes down of winner Stuart O'Grady. Wrolich returned to his native Austria for a few days before he will return to the Benelux for Amstel Gold and perhaps Flèche Wallonne.

Rene Haselbacher of Team Astana had hoped that his fourth start at Paris-Roubaix would turn out better than his previous attempts - but it didn't.

"Like in my former three appearances, when I was sick each time, I didn't have any luck this year. I had two mechanicals before the forest of Arenberg, which I went into as fifth. And then, two kilometres later, the tire blew again for the third time. With the hellish tempo that was being ridden there, you have no chance to come back. I had to wait very long for a new tire." Haselbacher eventually dropped out, and decided, "This race will never see me again!"