Quick-Step Floors out for a spin before Boonen's final race
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Zdenek Stybar takes a tumble while training with his Quick-Step team (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Zdenek Stybar picks himself up after crashing (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tom Boonen on the Paris-Roubaix recon (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tom Boonen had as many cars following him as most races do (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tom Boonen and Zdenek Stybar on the pavé (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tom Boonen's fans were out to see the team's pre-ride (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tom Boonen attacks (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Quic Step on the velodrome (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
A young fan gets the ride of his dreams (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tom Boonen on his final Paris-Roubaix reconnaissance (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tom Boonen on his final Paris-Roubaix reconnaissance (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tom Boonen on the pavé (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Zdenek Stybar (Quick-Step Floors) trains on the cobbles (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Zdenek Stybar launches a perhaps ill-fated attack in the recon ride (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Zdenek Stybar (Quick-Step Floors) (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Zdenek Stybar found himself in a ditch (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Zdenek Stybar got his crashing out of the way in the recon (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Quick-Step on the pavé (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Quick-Step on the pavé (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Quick-Step on the Roubaix velodrome (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Iljo Keisse gives up the sprint for Tom Boonen (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tom Boonen on the Roubaix velodrome (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Quick-Step Floors had dozens of cameras following them on their ride (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Iljo Keisse at the front (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Niki Terpstra and Tom Boonen have a laugh (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Iljo Keisse at the head of the Quick-Step Floors team (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tom Boonen dreaming of soloing to victory in Paris-Roubaix (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The Quick-Step Floors team headed out to the final half of the Paris-Roubaix parcours to stretch their legs before Sunday's main event - Tom Boonen's final race. But Zdenek Stybar got a little closer to the pavé than intended when he slid out in a bend and ended up face-first on the stones.
The team learned from the former Czech champion's mistake and continued on safely to the Roubaix velodrome, where Boonen playfully attacked and soloed to the line for the 'win'.
Boonen's ride was not just fun and games, however. He was testing the Specialized Roubaix with Future Shock front suspension that he rode in the Tour of Flanders - the same bike that suffered a jammed chain at the base of the Taaienberg, effectively ending the Belgian's race.
The team knows that fairy tale career endings are hard to come by, and were putting the final touches on their skills and strategies to deliver Boonen to his record breaking fifth career Paris-Roubaix victory.
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