When the race is as flat as Paris - Roubaix, spectators will take advantage of any high spots!(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Tom Boonen takes the applause as he rides his first lap of the Roubaix velodrome(Image credit: BikeRadar)
The group behind Boonen start the sprint for second place in the velodrome(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Lars Boom finishes the race on his cyclo cross bike, totally spent in 6th place(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Tom Boonen, Sebastien Turgot and Alessandro Ballan on the podium(Image credit: BikeRadar)
One of very few damaged team cars in this years race. Europcar obviously had a friendly tap from behind(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Gregory Henderson of Lotto Belisol returns his jammed Ridley(Image credit: BikeRadar)
This Team Sky Jaguar X Type looked to have raised suspension for this race(Image credit: BikeRadar)
This is a Team Sky Jaguar X-Type with normal ride height(Image credit: BikeRadar)
A pile of Saxo Bank Specialized Roubaix machines in need of a wash(Image credit: BikeRadar)
This second placed Saur Sojasun rider is clearly comfortable cornering on the dirt as he lifts the front wheel mid corner to change direction! (Image credit: BikeRadar)
Some well prepared French fans(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Those at the rear of the peloton demonstrate their more cautious line choices(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Main command vehicle for the Garde Républicaine on this race is a Land Rover Defender(Image credit: BikeRadar)
One of the Mavic neutral service motos with wheel rack and pillion mechanic holding spares(Image credit: BikeRadar)
One of the Mavic neutral service cars in the gap between break and peloton(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Press motos spend all day in the clouds of dust, which gets in to everything(Image credit: BikeRadar)
The blackboard motorbike in a hurry crossing the gap up to the leading group(Image credit: BikeRadar)
The race organisation cars were unmodified Skoda Superbs(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Can you imagine travelling along at 45kph while holding a heavy TV camera inches from the cobbles, right in front of the favourites, and not looking where you're going?(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Ricardo Garcia of Euskaltel suffered a broken seatpot clamp(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Euskaltel's Garcia gets pushed off on a new machine(Image credit: BikeRadar)
No matter how much they scrub, this Roubaix dust won't come out(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Luke Roberts' Specialized with a flat tubular(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Luke Roberts had the only two part parcours details we saw(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Vacansoleil had three models at the race, the Impulso, Infinito and Oltre. We're not sure if the Oltre was raced or just there as a spare.(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Chainslap marks on this Vacansoleil rider's Bianchi Impulso(Image credit: BikeRadar)
A Bianchi having a well needed clean(Image credit: BikeRadar)
A Bianchi having a well needed clean(Image credit: BikeRadar)
A TRP calliper on a Saur Sojasun Time frame(Image credit: BikeRadar)
The Saur Sojasun mechanics set up shop in a bus stop(Image credit: BikeRadar)
After the race, the Mavic staff visit all of the teams to swap over the many wheels which were loaned by neutral service during the race(Image credit: BikeRadar)
These Quickstep fans favour a 1970s theme(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Mavic transport their neutral service motorbikes in this neat trailer(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Some of the wheels used by Greenedge in the race(Image credit: BikeRadar)
The Green Edge mechanics cleaning their team bikes(Image credit: BikeRadar)
This MCipollini bike suffered some crash damage with a bent lever and unravelled tape(Image credit: BikeRadar)
The state of one of BMC's new GF01s after the race(Image credit: BikeRadar)
One BMC team car showing the days dirt(Image credit: BikeRadar)
It wasn't only the riders that suffered from punctures out on the course(Image credit: BikeRadar)
This Lotto Belisol rider has trimmed the right heel of his Pearl Izumi shoe(Image credit: BikeRadar)
The AG2R team's stack of wheels for service(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Cycling teams are masters at squeezing their vehicles in to the tightest spaces(Image credit: BikeRadar)
A Katusha Canyon showing the effects of a dusty day(Image credit: BikeRadar)
The Katusha mechanic's bus set up shop outside these houses. We hope the owners were cycling fans(Image credit: BikeRadar)
This Bretagne-Schuller KTM rear Di2 mech has suffered some crash damage(Image credit: BikeRadar)
At the end of a mammoth bike cleaning session, the brushes and sponges are packed away until the next day(Image credit: BikeRadar)
A Cofidis Fan Club member acts as an extra spare wheel man in a sector of pave. There are so many sectors that a team can not cover them all with personnel alone.(Image credit: BikeRadar)
The crowd at the start in Compiegne are a mixed bunch(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Skoda's Octvia Scout was also car of choice for Katusha(Image credit: BikeRadar)
The Garde Républicaine who protect French races rode their usual motorbikes until the first sector of pave at 97.5km then handed over to colleagues riding more suitable trail bikes(Image credit: BikeRadar)
This marshal's motorbike seemed less suited to the conditions(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Radioshack use their usual Nissan Qashqai team cars(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Radioshack parked their team cars around the bus like a wild west circle of wagons. We should've guessed Armstrong was in there!(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Euskaltel's 4WD Skoda Octavia Scout is better suited to the cobbles ahead(Image credit: BikeRadar)
This Ridley had its parcours details on some white cloth tape(Image credit: BikeRadar)
The Helium fork didn't allow for great tyre clearance(Image credit: BikeRadar)
A closer look at Liquigas-Cannondale's disc equipped talking point. The Avid BB7 road calliper is very neatly mounted and has a relatively small disc rotor(Image credit: BikeRadar)
A more suitable motorbike for the blackboard crew(Image credit: BikeRadar)
One Cofodis rider at least was relishing the challenge to come(Image credit: BikeRadar)
The same bike had a Campy Tech Lab rear mech too(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Green Edge sponsor Subaru supply the team with 4WD Legacys(Image credit: BikeRadar)
AG2R's Lloyd Mondory's parcours notes were particularly detailed(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Movistar used Volvo XC70s to tame the cobbles(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Euskaltel were riding some prototype Vittoria tyres on their Ambrosio rims(Image credit: BikeRadar)
An Astana mechanic makes final tyre pressure adjustments(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Astana's Assan Bazayev still favours a negative rise stem on his tiny Roubaix SL3, and fewer spokes than most(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Another beefed up press moto(Image credit: BikeRadar)
This trusty photographer's moto has seen many races(Image credit: BikeRadar)
A Movistar Pinarello fitted with a Campy Tech Lab labelled front mech, neatly mounted battery and SRM measuring system(Image credit: BikeRadar)
The rear end of this bike looks almost unchanged from the cyclo cross frame with long chain stays and huge clearances(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Although fitted with Mavic's 23mm rubber, the Super X road frame shows far more tyre clearance than any Paris-Roubaix tyres could ever need(Image credit: BikeRadar)
The addition of the top tube disc cable is the only change from normal(Image credit: BikeRadar)
AG2R employ helpers of all ages for this race(Image credit: BikeRadar)
A Europcar team helper with spare wheels in sector 17(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Saur Sojasun's four legged supporters(Image credit: BikeRadar)
A Katusha team helper with spare wheels in sector 24(Image credit: BikeRadar)
A Farnese Vini helper waits with spare wheels just in case(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Once the cobbled sectors begin, the road based Garde Républicaine escort hand over to their trail bike riding colleagues(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Sky's Matthew Hayman shows nerves of steel by taking a drink during the pave(Image credit: BikeRadar)
Watching the race out in the fields is quite unique(Image credit: BikeRadar)
