Johan Van Summeren won The Paris-Roubaix Classic Race this afternoon.
The hardest one day race in the cycling calender according to Lance Armstrong was in its 109th edition and started in Compiègne and after a punishing 256km which included 27 sets of cobbles finished in the velodrome at Roubaix in between Lille and the Belgium border.
Bradley Wiggins started off ahead as soon as the flag dropped but the Team Sky's rider, whose team were without Jeremy Hunt after he had a reaction after eating a pepper, was soon caught by an eight man break which included Holland's Maarten Tjallingi and Mitchel Docker.
This Queen Of The Classics takes its toll on the riders and there was crashes a plenty including Brit Roger Hammond who looked to have sustained some collarbone damage when the Garmin-Cervelo went down with 88.2km of the race left.
Watched by a massive crowds on a glorious day, Lars Boom who had joined the escapees which was now ten strong in setting a furious pace.
They had got two minutes clear, when with 70kms to go, Geraint Thomas, who had been amongst the favourites, went down when a Rabbobank rider crashed on the dusty road also taking down Tom Boonen, who had crashed already. Thomas (pictured below) was hit in the back by another rider but got up and carried on.
Theo Bos was hurt in that crash and joined Brit Mark Cavendish who had early mechanical problems in withdrawing along with Boonen and Heinrich Haussler.
Thor Hushovd (pictured below) was shadowing last year's winner Fabian Cancellera and BMC's Allesandro Bellan they had the escapees lead down to forty seconds with 36km to go.
Cancellera was arguing with his team car as to whether he should do any more work as the front riders including Gorazd Stangelj, Maarten Tjallingi, Martin Elmiger, Timon Seubert, Mitchell Docker, David Boucher, David Veilleux, Koen de Kort, Johan Van Summeren, Lars Ytting Bak, Jurgen Roelandts, Manuel Quinziato, Frederic Guesdon, Baden Cooke, John Degenkolb, Tom Leezer, Gabriel Rasch and Radioshack's Gregory Rast who were riding for a bit then easing up.
Team Sky's Juan Antonia Fletcha and Lars Boom had joined Cancellera's group and were driving them closer to the escapees. They caught up to the back markers of the lead group with 14km to go.
Team Garmin's Johan Van Summeren, the tallest man in the peleton, was clear up front but Cancellera was making attack after attack to try and get up to Bak and Rast.
Van Summeren had a thirty five second lead with 3.5 kilometres to go as Cancellera went for a podium place. He past Tallinghi, Bak and Rast but Summerfield was coming into sight of the Velodrome.
A long section of paving saw the Belgian Summeren then turn to enter the stadium and then it was a lap and a half to go. His look never changed as he kept giong and finished in a time of a 6hrs 7 mins and 28 seconds.
Fabian Cancellera (pictured below) got second, nineteen seconds back, with Tjallingi in third, Rast fourth and Bak fifth. Ballan, Eisel, Hushovd, Fletcha and Hayman rounded out the top ten.
Pictures copyright of Covsupport News Service. Credit CNS/KM