Cancellara wins his third Paris-Roubaix
By Cycling News
Two-man sprint decides the race on the velodrome
Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack Leopard) pulled off a thrilling performance to win the 2013 Paris-Roubaix in a dramatic sprint finish with Sep Vanmarcke (Blanco). Niki Terpstra (Omega Pharma QuickStep) sealed the final place on the podium.
Cancellara and Vanmarcke pulled clear on the Carrefour de l'Arbre pave when Stijn Vandenbergh (Omega Pharma QuickStep) and then his teammate Zdenek Stybar crashed into spectators. But for one last ditch attack from Cancellara in the closing five kilometres, the leading duo shared the pace setting all the way to the Roubaix velodrome.
Vanmarcke led out, but Cancellara simply had more in the tank and had enough to win his third Roubaix title and his second Flanders and Roubaix double of his career.
“I was in another world of riding! I still don’t know how I did it. I was dropped and pretty far back but then I started to move up. This is a race you can never give up on until the end. I had to play with him in the end because I tried to go away but he followed so then I knew it was man against man. I’m happy for the team and for me. Now I look forward to rest and a holiday. Mission accomplished,” Cancellara said.
The foundations for Cancellara's win were built on solid work from his teammates, who controlled the race in the opening 200 kilometres, never allowing a break to gain more than two minutes and then shepherding their leader towards the front on the Auchy-lez-Orchies - Bersée sector of pave.
It was clear from as early as last weekend's Flanders triumph that Cancellara would be the marked man, but he took the race by the scruff of the neck and although his surge forward in Orchies didn't win him the race, it drew out his main challengers. Thor Hushovd, Taylor Phinney and Edvald Boasson Hagen were the first to fall by the wayside but those that remained played their cards, and allowed Cancellara both a brief respite and opportunity to see would match him.
By the end of the 11th sector, only Cancellara, the Omega Pharma-Quickstep trio Nikki Terpstra, Zdenek Stybar and Vandenbergh, Europcar duo Sébastien Turgot, Damien Gaudin, Blanco duo Sep Vanmarcke and Lars Boom and also Sebastiaan Langeveld, Greg Van Avermaet (BMC), Bernard Eisel (Sky), Juan Antonio Flecha (Vacansoleil-DCM) and Luca Paolini (Katusha) remained in contention.
In front, Langeveld and Vanmarcke anticipated the next pavé stretch where Vandenbergh and Gaudin impressed as they rode away from the rest of the group. Behind the four leaders, a poker game unfolded. The result was that four more riders rode away from the Cancellara group. When exiting sector 7, the eight leaders were Langeveld, Vanmarcke, Gaudin, Vandenbergh, Stybar, Van Avermaet, Flecha and Paolini.
On the roads towards sector 6, Cancellara closed to the eight leaders on his own, by far his most impressive feat in the race. Having dropped back to his team car and dragging Boom, Terpstra and Eisel with him, he quickly realised he had isolated three major threats. Within a flash, he had left them for dust and was soon back with the Flecha group.
Meanwhile Vandenbergh and Vanmarcke didn't wait for Spartacus and snuck off the front. When reaching sector 6, Cancellara and also Terpstra joined the chase group, half a minute behind the two Belgian leaders. On the same section where Cancellara crashed during the reconnaissance, the second part of sector 6, the cobbles of Bourghelles à Wannehain, the Swiss rider accelerated. Only Stybar was able to keep up with Spartacus.
While Cancellara time trialed towards the two leaders on the wide roads after the cobbles, Stybar tried to hold his wheel. Just before reaching sectors 5 and 4 there were four leaders in the race: Cancellara, Vanmarcke and teammates Vandenbergh and Stybar. Chasers Flecha, Langeveld, Terpstra, Van Avermaet and Gaudin were half a minute down on the leaders. A large group with Boom, Eisel, Paolini, Kristoff, Leukemans and others were further behind.
Vandenbergh was already losing contact on the cobbles of the Carrefour de l'Arbre when he clipped a spectator and fell in the early phase of the sector, leaving Stybar with the difficult job of marking both Cancellara and Vanmarcke.
The former cyclo-cross star looked comfortable on the cobbles though, but when he also rode into a fan, there was no way back.
Bright skies for Compiègne start
In contrast to the massive crowds in Bruges last week, the start in Compiègne was much more low-key. Teams were still rolling in toward the Place Charles de Gaulle in front of the Compiègne castle less than an hour before the start of the race. While temperatures dived under freezing point early in the morning, the sun did enough to persuade riders to wear short-sleeved kits once the race got underway at 10:20 am.
The pace was high right from the start with many teams trying to get a rider in the breakaway group. Thirteen riders managed to get a gap after 17km of racing, but the sizeable group didn't receive the ok from the peloton. The outcome was a blistering fast first hour of racing, averaging just under 50km per hour. The group was caught, and several more attempts fell short.
Upon hitting the first pavé sectors after 100km of racing, the peloton was back together. On the second cobbled stretch of the day, there was a crash which quickly reduced the peloton and hindered men like Stijn Devolder and Ian Stannard. In front, four riders finally managed to get away. Former winner Stuart O'Grady (Orica-Greenedge) was joined by Gert Steegmans (Omega Pharma-Quickstep), Matthew Hayman (Sky) and Clément Koretzky (Bretagne-Seche Environnement). The four got away in sector 22, at 124km from the finish. Behind them, André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) tried to bridge up but the German sprinter fell short. At the back of the peloton, Yoann Offredo (FDJ) crashed out of the race when he didn't notice a traffic island.
The four leaders built up a lead of more than two minutes over the peloton where Team Saxo-Tinkoff set the pace for their leader Matti Breschel when heading towards the famous Wallers-Arenberg forest. Steegmans led the breakaway into the Trouée Arenberg with a gap of 1:30 on the peloton. Thanks to the efforts from Taylor Phinney (BMC), John Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) and Stijn Vandenbergh (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) that gap was brought down to 40 seconds once out of the 2400m long pavé sector. In contrast to previous years, there were barely no crashes in this zone.
The four leaders struggled to hold off the peloton which at sector 17 closed in to touching distance. Nevertheless they reached sector 16 with a 30-second bonus. At that point Steegmans and Hayman left their companions behind. At the same time, Michael Schär (BMC) launched a solo move to join the leaders. In the peloton, outsiders like Filippo Pozzato (Lampre-Merida), Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ) and Geraint Thomas (Sky) were affected by a crash while BMC's leader Thor Hushovd (BMC) flatted.
After 185km of racing and with 69km left to cover, the riders reached the second feed zone. The duo forced Schär to work hard and long but 20km after his initial acceleration, he finally joined the two leaders. A little later, Damien Gaudin (Europcar) bridged up with the leaders, who were riding only half a minute ahead of the reduced peloton.
Sector 11 was the first one where Cancellara moved to the front and from there the pace never dropped. By the time the race reached sector 10, the famous Mons-en-Pévèle the leaders were caught.
Former Paris-Roubaix winner Johan Vansummeren (Garmin-Sharp) flatted while his compatriot Stijn Vandenbergh (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) impressed in front. No more than 13 riders survived the selection of this sector. They were top favourite Cancellara, Terpstra, Stybar, Vandenbergh, Turgot, Gaudin, Vanmarcke, Boom, Langeveld, Van Avermaet, Eisel, Flecha and Paolini. A little later, Turgot dropped out of the lead group with a flat tyre and Cancellara moved into position.
“It’s amazing having a third victory. When I see how in this race everyone was against our team, against me, I just had to do a selection. The team came into a little bit of difficulty because we lost a few guys because of bad luck. But that’s Roubaix. It’s always nice to win alone but today there was pure fighting until the very end. I could not believe it when I crossed the finish line. My legs and my head wanted to bring me here,” Cancellara said.
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Fabian Cancellara (Swi) RadioShack Leopard | 5:45:33 |
2 | Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Blanco Pro Cycling Team | |
3 | Niki Terpstra (Ned) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | 0:00:31 |
4 | Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team | |
5 | Damien Gaudin (Fra) Team Europcar | |
6 | Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | 0:00:39 |
7 | Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Orica-GreenEdge | |
8 | Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
9 | Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha | 0:00:50 |
10 | Sébastien Turgot (Fra) Team Europcar | |
11 | Heinrich Haussler (Aus) IAM Cycling | |
12 | Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Sky Procycling | |
13 | Maarten Wynants (Bel) Blanco Pro Cycling Team | |
14 | Lars Boom (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team | |
15 | Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | |
16 | Björn Leukemans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
17 | Steve Chainel (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale | |
18 | Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team | |
19 | Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | |
20 | Stijn Vandenbergh (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | |
21 | Luca Paolini (Ita) Katusha | 0:01:00 |
22 | Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Lampre-Merida | 0:02:52 |
23 | Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team | 0:03:13 |
24 | Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Belisol | |
25 | Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano | |
26 | Johan Le Bon (Fra) FDJ | 0:03:17 |
27 | Lloyd Mondory (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale | |
28 | John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano | 0:03:29 |
29 | Adrien Petit (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
30 | Robert Wagner (Ger) Blanco Pro Cycling Team | |
31 | Jacopo Guarnieri (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
32 | Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
33 | Roger Kluge (Ger) Team NetApp-Endura | |
34 | Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
35 | Thor Hushovd (Nor) BMC Racing Team | |
36 | Tom Veelers (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano | |
37 | Francisco José Ventoso Alberdi (Spa) Movistar Team | |
38 | Iljo Keisse (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | |
39 | Marco Bandiera (Ita) IAM Cycling | |
40 | Gael Malacarne (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement | |
41 | Martin Elmiger (Swi) IAM Cycling | |
42 | Sébastien Hinault (Fra) IAM Cycling | |
43 | Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol | |
44 | Bert De Backer (Bel) Team Argos-Shimano | |
45 | Sébastien Minard (Fra) Ag2R La Mondiale | |
46 | Jens Keukeleire (Bel) Orica-GreenEdge | |
47 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling | |
48 | Bjorn Thurau (Ger) Team Europcar | |
49 | Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Katusha | 0:03:32 |
50 | Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Garmin-Sharp | |
51 | Ian Stannard (GBr) Sky Procycling | |
52 | Mathew Hayman (Aus) Sky Procycling | |
53 | Hayden Roulston (NZl) RadioShack Leopard | 0:06:07 |
54 | Stijn Devolder (Bel) RadioShack Leopard | 0:06:11 |
55 | Gert Steegmans (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | |
56 | Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
57 | Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
58 | Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin-Sharp | 0:08:37 |
59 | Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:10:27 |
60 | Ioannis Tamouridis (Gre) Euskaltel-Euskadi | |
61 | Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) Ag2R La Mondiale | |
62 | Florent Barle (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
63 | José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Movistar Team | |
64 | Rudiger Selig (Ger) Katusha | |
65 | Pierre-Luc Perrichon (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement | |
66 | Jos Van Emden (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team | |
67 | Viacheslav Kuznetsov (Rus) Katusha | |
68 | André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol | |
69 | Arnaud Labbe (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
70 | Jack Bauer (NZl) Garmin-Sharp | |
71 | Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team | |
72 | William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ | 0:10:30 |
73 | Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Garmin-Sharp | 0:13:16 |
74 | Nikolas Maes (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | 0:13:42 |
75 | Clément Koretzky (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement | |
76 | Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | 0:14:34 |
77 | Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Sojasun | |
78 | Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano | |
79 | Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Procycling | |
80 | Jesse Sergent (NZl) RadioShack Leopard | |
81 | Boy Van Poppel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
82 | Imanol Erviti (Spa) Movistar Team | |
83 | Kristijan Koren (Slo) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
84 | Bob Jungels (Lux) RadioShack Leopard | |
85 | Benoit Jarrier (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement | |
86 | Grégory Rast (Swi) RadioShack Leopard | 0:14:38 |
87 | Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | |
88 | Yohann Gene (Fra) Team Europcar | |
89 | Andrea Palini (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
90 | Arnaud Demare (Fra) FDJ | 0:14:40 |
91 | Wesley Kreder (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
92 | Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | |
93 | Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor) Bretagne-Seche Environnement | |
94 | Jonas Aaen Jörgensen (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | |
95 | Jan Barta (Cze) Team NetApp-Endura | 0:19:12 |
96 | Stuart O'grady (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge | 0:20:37 |
97 | Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Sky Procycling | |
98 | Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | |
99 | Ricardo Garcia Ambroa (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | |
100 | Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Sojasun | |
101 | Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) RadioShack Leopard | |
102 | Gediminas Bagdonas (Ltu) Ag2R La Mondiale | |
103 | Michael Morkov (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | 0:25:31 |
104 | Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
105 | Marko Kump (Slo) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | |
106 | Dominic Klemme (Ger) IAM Cycling | |
107 | Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Team NetApp-Endura | |
108 | Zakkari Dempster (Aus) Team NetApp-Endura | |
109 | Luke Rowe (GBr) Sky Procycling | 0:26:16 |
110 | Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge | |
111 | Edward King (USA) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
112 | William Clarke (Aus) Team Argos-Shimano | |
113 | Arman Kamyshev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
114 | Jetse Bol (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team | |
115 | Russell Downing (GBr) Team NetApp-Endura | |
116 | Andrea Guardini (Ita) Astana Pro Team | |
117 | Morgan Lamoisson (Fra) Team Europcar | |
118 | Christopher Juul Jensen (Den) Team Saxo-Tinkoff | |
HD | Tom Stamsnijder (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano | 0:43:59 |
DNF | Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick-Step Cycling Team | |
DNF | Sébastien Chavanel (Fra) Team Europcar | |
DNF | Jerome Cousin (Fra) Team Europcar | |
DNF | David Veilleux (Can) Team Europcar | |
DNF | Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) RadioShack Leopard | |
DNF | Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team | |
DNF | Daniel Oss (Ita) BMC Racing Team | |
DNF | Danilo Wyss (Swi) BMC Racing Team | |
DNF | Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Sky Procycling | |
DNF | Rick Flens (Ned) Blanco Pro Cycling Team | |
DNF | Marco Haller (Aut) Katusha | |
DNF | Vladimir Isaichev (Rus) Katusha | |
DNF | Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Katusha | |
DNF | Andreas Klier (Ger) Garmin-Sharp | |
DNF | Raymond Kreder (Ned) Garmin-Sharp | |
DNF | Jacob Rathe (USA) Garmin-Sharp | |
DNF | Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Garmin-Sharp | |
DNF | Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ | |
DNF | David Boucher (Fra) FDJ | |
DNF | Mickael Delage (Fra) FDJ | |
DNF | Murilo Antonio Fischer (Bra) FDJ | |
DNF | Yoann Offredo (Fra) FDJ | |
DNF | Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol | |
DNF | Kenny De Haes (Bel) Lotto Belisol | |
DNF | Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Belisol | |
DNF | Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto Belisol | |
DNF | Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) Lotto Belisol | |
DNF | Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana Pro Team | |
DNF | Evan Huffman (USA) Astana Pro Team | |
DNF | Ruslan Tleubayev (Kaz) Astana Pro Team | |
DNF | Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Orica-GreenEdge | |
DNF | Baden Cooke (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge | |
DNF | Mitchell Docker (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge | |
DNF | Jens Mouris (Ned) Orica-GreenEdge | |
DNF | Bertjan Lindeman (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
DNF | Mirko Selvaggi (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
DNF | Frederik Veuchelen (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team | |
DNF | Elia Favilli (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
DNF | Massimo Graziato (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
DNF | Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
DNF | Maximiliano Ariel Richeze (Arg) Lampre-Merida | |
DNF | Davide Vigano (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
DNF | Luca Wackermann (Ita) Lampre-Merida | |
DNF | Kristof Goddaert (Bel) IAM Cycling | |
DNF | Gustav Larsson (Swe) IAM Cycling | |
DNF | Aleksejs Saramotins (Lat) IAM Cycling | |
DNF | Koen De Kort (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano | |
DNF | Davide Appollonio (Ita) Ag2R La Mondiale | |
DNF | Hugo Houle (Can) Ag2R La Mondiale | |
DNF | Valentin Iglinskiy (Kaz) Ag2R La Mondiale | |
DNF | Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Sojasun | |
DNF | Maxime Daniel (Fra) Sojasun | |
DNF | Christophe Laborie (Fra) Sojasun | |
DNF | Rony Martias (Fra) Sojasun | |
DNF | Jean-Lou Paiani (Fra) Sojasun | |
DNF | Evaldas Siskevicius (Ltu) Sojasun | |
DNF | Guillaume Boivin (Can) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
DNF | Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
DNF | Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling | |
DNF | Egoitz Garcia Echeguibel (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
DNF | Jan Ghyselinck (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
DNF | Gert Joeaar (Est) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
DNF | Nico Sijmens (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
DNF | Romain Zingle (Bel) Cofidis, Solutions Credits | |
DNF | Markus Eichler (Ger) Team NetApp-Endura | |
DNF | Blaz Jarc (Slo) Team NetApp-Endura | |
DNF | Alexander Wetterhall (Swe) Team NetApp-Endura | |
DNF | Alex Dowsett (GBr) Movistar Team | |
DNF | Jesus Herrada Lopez (Spa) Movistar Team | |
DNF | Eloy Teruel Rovira (Spa) Movistar Team | |
DNF | Jean-Luc Delpech (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement | |
DNF | Florian Vachon (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement | |
DNF | Benjamin Le Montagner (Fra) Bretagne-Seche Environnement | |
DNF | Peio Bilbao (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | |
DNF | Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | |
DNF | Steffen Radochla (Ger) Euskaltel-Euskadi | |
DNF | Adrian Saez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi | |
DNF | André Schulze (Ger) Euskaltel-Euskadi | |
DSQ | Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team |
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