They say the ones in which the rain falls and the wind blows and the riders come home caked in mud are the best. That is true as a spectacle, but yesterday proved a dry race in the dust can be just as thrilling. We had the sight of 257.5km of attacks, crashes, surges, splits in the field, panic, pursuits, selections, more attacking and finally a sprint for glory in the Roubaix velodrome.
By the time the race reached the Forest of Aranberg with 95.5km still remaining, we had seen numerous failed attacks, one that had thus far succeeded and a crucial crash that split the chasing bunch in two creating three distinct groups on the road. And most crucial of all, Peter Sagan and Fabian Cancellara, two pre-race favourites set to duke this one out after last weeks epic battle at the Tour of Flanders, were in the third group on the road and in real trouble. Especially considering the groups in front contained other contenders, one of whom was the great Tom Boonen. The upshot was, with so long still to race, a mighty pursuit across Northern France
The key to winning at Roubaix, beyond all such attributes of power, experience, control, nerve, timing, bike handling and brute strength -- all of which you must contain in abundance -- is little bits of luck to avoid the unexpected crashes or mechanical mishaps. Sagan and Cancellara fell foul to the former, both from the crash that split the field early, and for Cancellara in a crash of his own, just as the gap to those in front was beginning to come down, that left him out of contention. That Peter Sagan didn't come down as well was a major testament to his attribute of bike handling, something we're so familiar with. But isolated so far from the finish and with the pressure only ramping up as the two groups ahead merged, he would find the gaps too large to close.
So take Mat Hayman then and all those attributes to ride well here that he has built up over fifteen previous attempts, and then consider the element of luck. People think you need it to win here but the reality is that to win Paris-Roubaix you don't ride your luck, you make it. Hayman got in the early break that succeeded in getting clear and as such he avoided the chaos behind him. At one stage with 80km still on the dial he surged clear of his own breakaway companions to lead alone. It might have seemed like a suicide bid, but perhaps it was his own way of staying trouble free.
He was eventually reeled in by that large group behind which contained four riders from Team Sky: Ian Stannard, Luke Rowe, Gianni Moscon and Salvatore Puccio, but just when it looked like the British team, still in search of a first Monument win, were taking control, two of their riders (Rowe and Moscon) came down on one corner, and Puccio on the next. Rowe managed to regain contact briefly but it left only Stannard as their best hope.
Stannard took that chance on a later sector, taking the setup by Rowe to surge hard and expose the tired legs in the group, reducing it quickly down to less than ten. Then a move by the ever present Sep Vanmarcke reduced it to just four chasers. With Vanmarcke eventually reeled in, we had the Belgian, Stannard, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Hayman, and the mighty Tom Boonen left from 199 starters with hopes of glory.
And there was no doubt that the high tempo of racing from the very start, the early attacks, the hard driving on the cobbles, the effort to avoid the crashing, to close the gaps and to ensure they were part of those left standing, had left us with five extremely tired men.
Paris-Roubaix however brings out the best in its contenders and rather than pace one another along into the velodrome, the five took turns attacking one another in exhaustion. Would the power of Stannard prevail, the know-how of Boonen, the cunning of Vanmarcke, the talent of Boasson Hagen, or the grit of Hayman? Each took several turns, some in desperate hope that their own exhaustion wouldn't quite be as bad as the rest, but none had the legs to break the others and they came into the Velodrome together with a crowd roaring for Boonen to make it a record breaking five wins here.
But it was Hayman...he who was on the front, on his own, 80km earlier, setting his own tempo and picking his own line while the rest panicked to bring back splits in the field and close gaps to the wheel in front. It perhaps allowed his legs that little extra something when it mattered in the final 20km of attacks and when it really mattered in the final 200 metres when he opened his sprint and Boonene failed to come past him.
Few riders have deserved such a win more than Mat Hayman. Not because it was his sixteenth attempt or because he's one of the old veterans of the peloton who has worked tirelessly for others down the years, or anything sentimental like that, but because he rode the race perfectly: Leading from the front throughout to avoid trouble, positioning himself to react to the right moves, and displaying all those attributes of power, experience, control, nerve, timing, handling and brute strength in abundance. And when you have all that you reduce the element of luck enough that the dream of winning a race like Paris-Roubaix becomes a reality for a 38 year old Australian; the second oldest in race history.
Paris-Roubaix result:
1. Mathew Hayman (Orica-GreenEdge) 2. Tom Boonen (Etixx - Quick Step) 3. Ian Stannard (Sky) 4. Sep Vanmarcke (LottoNI-Jumbo) 5. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Dimension Data) 6. Henrich Haussler (IAM) 7. Marcel Sieberg (Lotto Soudal) 8. Aleksejs Saramontis (IAM) 9. Imanol Erviti (Movistar) 10. Adrien Petit (Direct Energie) 11. Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) | in 5h 51' 53" all s.t. @ 3" @ 1' 00" all s.t. @ 1' 07" @ 2' 20" s.t. |
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Rider of the week:
Mat Hayman. Why? Well, if you're asking that then you need to go watch Sunday's Paris-Roubaix. In the break for most of the day he survived all the splits, crashes and attacks to go ahead-to-head with Tom Boonen and other cobbled specialists for the win; and he won.
(Honourable mention to Alberto Contador who won the time-trial and GC at Pais Vasco).
