Filippo Pozzato (Liquigas) (Image credit: Gregor Brown)
Filippo Pozzato (Liquigas) had hoped for a better Paris-Roubaix but his 'motor' and experience let him down. The 25 year-old rider from Veneto was happy for his team-mate but wished he could have done better.
"I exploded early. My legs were good but the 'motor' did not go," he noted to La Gazzetta dello Sport after entering the Roubaix velodrome. "If you are not at your maximum then you don't go. It was also the case with Tom Boonen." 'Pippo' finished 35th, 8'29" back on winner Stuart O'Grady (Team CSC).
Pozzato's season started off with a bang when the 2006 Milano-Sanremo champion won in Haut Var and then the Omloop Het Volk but he explained that Roubaix is completely different. "The pavé of Roubaix is another story with respect to the bergs of Flanders, and I have yet to learn the secrets. I am content for the fifth place of [Roberto] Petito. If he had made it to the podium then it would have been like a victory for us."
