Road Bike Racing - The Lion of Flanders wins Roubaix!

After a breakaway at 40 km, Museeuw pulls off his third victory in l'Enfer du Nord with incredible style. Weseman second, USPS's Boonen is third. I followed this on Eurosport and can't wait to see the video. This classic was a... well... a classic!

Bravo Johan!

I watched it live (!!!) on OLN. Museeuw was fantastic. Paris-Roubaix is definitely a race for the hard men. Museeuw personifies that cycling archetype. Hincapie was in position for the podium but fell in a ditch and pretty much was fried after that

Today the true Lion of Pro cycling roared!!Well done Johan,He's not getting older,He's getting better!

What did I say ? Museeuw is definately one of those last gladiators in pro cycling. Now, in his final year he showed why. That really was unbelievable... he was faster than Boonen and Hincapie together. Chapeau Johan !

I kind of feel bad for George Hincapie- sometimes he does have terrible luck, like puncturing at MSR last year, but he's unable to get a win in the classics, and here he is USPS classic's guy! He can't say armstrong wasn't there to support him- he's been in all the races with hincapie this spring, except for Roubaix. Of course, falling at Roubaix isn't exactly unknown, but Hincapie doesn't have too many more chances to win a classic this spring!

I'm really glad for Steffen Wesemann- after the terrible time he had at Roubaix last year it's great that he's on the podium. Good for him!

As I guessed a Mapei/Domo show. USPS also played abig role this year. Finally a race worth my eyes to watch. Always has been. Paris Roubaix never disappoints. Not to mention the weather they had. Truly much harder due to the weather.

I tip my hat to Musseuw. A well deserved win. Matter of fact, every paris Roubaix winner is a true winner in my book.

Originally posted by Piratello
What did I say ? Museeuw is definately one of those last gladiators in pro cycling. Now, in his final year he showed why. That really was unbelievable... he was faster than Boonen and Hincapie together. Chapeau Johan !

The last one of the old generation perhaps. A new gladiator is being molded by Carmichel, his name: Tom Boonen.
USPS realizes that they've hired a super talent.

Originally posted by green lion
USPS realizes that they've hired a super talent.

But will they be able to keep him? They'll have to ante up some big bucks, now! Being a yank, I was disappointed at Hincapie's misfortune, though 6th place is nothing to hang your head about.

What is really notable is that a US team has finally seriously committed to a fuller schedule, and is repeatedly getting top 10 finishes in the spring classics.

Kudos to Museeuw! The best man certainly won!

I wonder if USPS will be able to keep Boonen for long. I am pretty sure Domo will want him- Museeum is going to reture, Peeters is gone, they need more classics guys!

Check the UCI website- the list of abandons was huge, as usual with Roubaix. Ludo Dierkxcens bailed- imagine that! I think he crashed or something- it takes a major disaster to keep that guy down.

I expect to see Boonen in Domo, Lotto or Cofidis colours nxt year. Fishisning P-R, let alone finishing on the podium, is also unprecendented for a neo-pro. This kid has major talent and, if he can show it in the next few races, there'll be people lining up at his door.

Can Postal keep him? I doubt it. The team can't even seem to keep its American talent -- do the names Leipheimer, Hamilton and Livingston ring any bells? -- and I think it'll be hard for the team to compete with a home-town squad where everyone, not just the DS, speaks the same language. Remember, Boonen is only 21! He's a kid!

The other thing is that Boonen is clearly a classics rider, but Postal is NOT a classics team. Sure, they have Wrong-Way Georgie as their "classics captain," but not only is he seemingly incapable of winning a classic [last year's G-V is starting to look like a fluke], the team only seems to enter the races to have enough UCI points to qualify for the Tour. This is a TdF team. Period. Postal will never put more than the bare minimum resources into a classics campaign. There's not future there for Boonen.

Besides, he's Belgian. He can never be a star on Postal. The title sponsor needs an American star, and when that star retires, the sponsorship will end. I hate to break this to you, but that's going to happen in three years at least, maybe sooner if Armstrong doesn't win this year. Boonen will be 24 -- just at the beginning of his real career. Don't think he doesn't know it, and don't think that Patrick Lefevere called his parents yesterday to make sure THEY know it. Postal is simply the wrong team.

And here you have a couple of Belgian teams with soon-to-retire stars and big salary budgets. Hey, Domo even has an opening for a belgian wunderkind right now, with a budget line of 300,000 Euros. That's more than Postal can pay, and a whole lot more than the 35,000 Euros Boonen is making as a neo-Pro.

Boonen will be out of Postal within seconds of the start of the transfer season.

Green Lion, I doubt Carmichael has had anything to do with Boonen. He's been with the team for three months and, let's face it, carmichael is Armstrong's trainer, not the whole team's. I doubt he even knew Boonen by name before Sunday.

Yeah, you are probably right Velocipedio, it's more like Johan Bruneel who's molding him. And I too I think soon after Armstrong, postal will dissapear from the scene. So did Molteni after Merckx.

What a great race! Museeuw is certainly a master.

I am in love with the Classics. This just feels like what bicycle racing is all about. The Paris-Roubaix vs TdF reminds me of the difference between the Mille Miglia (first race I ever saw was the last one of those) and F1 today.

Having said that, I am not sure I would like to race in this one. Oooohhhhhh...that's dirty! :D

Cheers...Gary