Olympic time-trial champion Fabian Cancellara powered to his second one-day classic victory in a week, winning the Paris-Roubaix on Sunday with another humbling of Belgian rival Tom Boonen.
The Swiss rider’s second victory in the grueling 259km race, known as the “Hell of the North” because of its 27 sectors of bone-shaking cobblestones, means he also becomes only the 10th rider to achieve a rare classics double.
Last week Cancellara, who rides for Saxo Bank, left Quick Step rival Boonen struggling to keep pace with an attack 15km from the finish line of the Tour of Flanders.
PHOTO: REUTERS
After Boonen’s second place finish in the Milan-San Remo, and his runner-up place in Flanders, the pressure was on Belgian’s biggest cycling star to take revenge, but on Sunday the three-time Paris-Roubaix champion was again at Cancellara’s mercy, the Swiss attacking with just under 50km to go.
A combination of unrivaled power from Cancellara and a crucial lack of collaboration in Boonen’s chase group allowed the Swiss to build a quick, unassailable lead.
Even before he reached Roubaix’s famous outdoor velodrome Cancellara was celebrating, brandishing the gold angel trinket his family had given him last week for Easter.
Two minutes later, Norwegian Thor Hushovd outsprinted Spaniard Juan Antonio Flecha to claim second place, with Boonen arriving in fifth a minute later.
“I knew that with my form and the way the last weeks were going I would be difficult to catch once I took a 10m lead, that they would be scared,” said Cancellara. “Boonen, Flecha, Hushovd ... I think they knew straight away they were racing for second place and that allowed me to race my own race.”
Cancellara emerged from Mons-en-Pevele, one of the most difficult cobblestone sectors, with a 20-second lead on Boonen and the wind, which had been blowing into and across the peloton all day, at his back.
With more than 45km to race victory was still far from guaranteed, but the disastrous tactics being deployed behind him went in his favor.
Boonen was left in a seven-man chase group that notably contained Hushovd, Filippo Pozzato, Leif Hoste and Flecha but, apart from Boonen, they had practically conceded defeat. By the time Cancellara had emerged from the seventh from last cobbled sector at Templeuve, his lead had grown to an unassailable 1 minute 30 seconds.
Boonen was angry with the rest of the riders in the group.
“If Cancellara attacks and I can’t follow him that’s fair enough, but I’m really angry with the way some of the other guys rode,” said the 29-year-old Belgian, who won the race last year.
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli yesterday vowed to “keep raising the bar” after winning the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the championship standings. The 19-year-old Italian took advantage of a mid-race safety car to jump into the lead after a dreadful start from pole position, crossing the line ahead of McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. Antonelli’s Suzuka victory came two weeks after the first grand prix win of his career in China, and sent him top of the championship standings after three races, nine points ahead of team-mate George Russell. Mercedes are struggling to
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
RSS