Last weekend's Paris-Roubaix race lived up to its title as "Queen of the Classics" with an epic race on Easter Sunday. Actually, for a large chunk of the riders, it also lived up to its title as a "Sunday in Hell" and the "Hell of the North". The 26 segments of cobblestones, frequent mechanical problems, and constant crashes just destroy the peloton, and only the very strongest riders survive. The race came down to an elite pack including Tom Boonen, Thor Hushovd, Fillippo Pozzato, Juan Antonio Flecha, and Lotto teammates Leif Hoste and Johan Van Summeren. The group worked hard to keep the rest of the chasing groups (including Cancellara and Hincapie) at bay, and maintained their lead into the last 15km. Then a crash by Flecha took down Van Summeren and forced Hoste to come to a complete stop. Soon thereafter, a crash by Hushovd gave Boonen a ten-second lead over Pozzato. And while a 10-second lead might not seem like a lot with 15 km to go, it was all that Boonen needed, as he powered away from the now split-up chasers, and cruised to a 70-second win in the Roubaix velodrome. It is also Boonen's third win in this epic race, furthering his reputation as one of the best classic riders of all time. Check out the video below of all the crashes, including Hushovd's race-deciding crash and a race motorbike crashing into the crowd. This video also illustrates how crappy the roads are and how close the spectators are along some of the cobblestone sections.
The motorcycle crash did result in 15 injuries, and I'm surprised that more spectators don't get hurt by bikes, motorcycles, or team cars along some of these roads. Columbia's Michael Barry was the lone Canuck, finishing in 90th place.
Very interestingly, the road conditions in Paris-Roubaix are so bad that many teams (including Caisse D'Epargne, Milram
, and Katusha) actually used modified aluminum cyclocross bikes during the race. They just switched out the wheels to regular aluminum clinchers! Some teams even had the handlebar cyclocross brakes on some of their bikes. Crazy...but after seeing the carnage from Sunday I guess the teams made the right call...
However, on Wednesday Canada got it's first great finish of the season. During Wednesday's race, Belgium's Scheldeprijs, Cervelo's Dominique Rollin managed a third place finish! This race, while not a "classic" race, is known as the last race on cobblestones before the peloton returns to more traditional road racing. Rollin did take advantage of an awesome crash (don't worry, i have the video below) to take his first European podium of the year. The race was won by Alessandro Petacchi, who has already won 7 time in 2009. Both Tom Boonen and Robbie McEwen were involved in the crash (actually McEwen is being blamed for it), but both are expected to be okay. Congrats to Dom!
The week ahead includes the grand trio of Ardennes races, including Sunday's Amstel Gold Race in Holland, followed by the Fleche-Wallone on Wednesday and Liege-Bastogne-Liege next Sunday. The big names are all here, with Valverde, Cunego, the Schlecks, Olympic champ Samuel Sanchez, and lots of others trying for the big win. A trio of Canadians, including Hesjedal, Rollin, and Barry, will all start. Can we get a second podium in one week?
Monday is the 113th edition of the Boston Marathon, which is probably the most historically important marathon on the planet. It isn't lightning fast like London, Berlin, or Rotterdam, which means that many elite runners don't race here (Radcliffe and Gebrselassie have never raced it). But it is still a crown jewel race, and a victory here is a career achievement. It is especially important for Americans, who haven't won since 1985 (women) or 1983 (men). Kenya men have won 16 of the last 18 years, and 4-time winner (and course record holder) Robert K Cheruiyot is back to defend his title. Americans have some hope though in 2009, with Ryan Hall competing against the world for the first time on US soil. He has taken it on himself to return marathoning to the front pages in the USA, and it is already working (front page of today's USA Today sports!, bumping the NBA playoffs). But a victory over Cheruiyot would be really a big step. Is it possible? Perhaps...Hall's coach claims he is the best shape of his career, and the oddsmakers have him as a close second behind Cheruiyot. I'll go out and say he will do it!
The women's race is also interesting, as American Kara Goucher is here to run her second marathon (after a great debut in New York last year). She too is in great shape, but with last year's champ Dire Tune back for another title, it might be too early for Goucher to win Boston. But the presence of Goucher and Hall will most definitely draw more American spectators to the television and the web on Monday afternoon. Here's hoping they can both do well.
More to come...maybe Monday. Oh yeah, Ironman China on the weekend too (no big names, but I'll report on it next week...).
2 comments:
Trev:
I believe Ryan Hall ran the Olympic qualifer at the New York marathon in 2007. As far as I know, New York is on American soil. Though, I could be wrong.
Dammit...I was thinking London and Beijing...but I guess the Beijing Qualifier was not really a international race.
No Kenyans = not a real race. Haha
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