Paris – Roubaix 2006

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Race result
winner Fabian Cancellara 6:07:54 h
Second Tom Boonen + 1:49 min
Third Alessandro Ballan equal time
Fourth Juan Antonio Flecha equal time
fifth Bernhard Eisel + 3:25 min
Sixth Steffen Wesemann + 5:35 min
seventh Frédéric Guesdon + 6:31 min
Eighth Bert Roesems + 6:44 min
Ninth Christophe Mengin equal time
Tenth Staf Scheirlinckx + 6:45 min
Leif Hoste (+ 1:23 min),
Peter Van Petegem (equal time) and Wladimir Gussew (equal time)
, who were initially classified from 2nd place , were disqualified
The 2006 racetrack
Winner Fabian Cancellara (2007)

The Paris-Roubaix 2006 cycling race was the 104th edition of the Paris-Roubaix cycling classic . It was won by the Swiss Fabian Cancellara from the Danish team CSC , who was able to enter the Vélodrome André-Pétrieux as a soloist after a solo journey over the last 20 km . Cancellara is only the second Swiss to win this race after Heiri Suter (1923). This year it was part of the UCI ProTour as a historic race marked his .

Race course

Forest of Arenberg

Even before the Arenberg Forest, feared by the riders because of earlier falls with serious consequences (e.g. Johan Museeuw 1998) , a top group of more than 15 had formed. The notorious cobblestone passage  - not in the program in 2005, but restored at great expense and partially widened for the 2006 event - did not result in the race decision this time. Many teams were no longer represented in the front field at this point, such as Gerolsteiner and Team Milram .

Good luck for George Hincapie

On one of the cobblestones that followed, George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) had a dramatic fall: After falling in the first half of the race, the shaft of his fork was apparently damaged. Before he could change the wheel, the steerer tube broke. Hincapie was able to drive on with his own hands at first - the entire handlebars, which had been torn off with the stem, were swinging dangerously freely over the front wheel - and tried to reduce the speed in a controlled manner on the slightly uphill section of the route, when finally the front wheel turned and Hincapie fell headlong into the adjacent field. dislocating his shoulder.

The incident - the handlebars breaking off has been very rare in the history of international cycling races - raises questions again. The race is still controversial because of its more than 50 km anachronistic cobblestones and places high demands on the technical supporters of the teams; Many drivers had decided specifically for this race in favor of the tried and tested frame material steel and against modern materials.

Attacks by Flecha, Discovery Channel and CSC

After numerous attacks by the Discovery Channel , CSC and Rabobank soloist Juan Antonio Flecha , the leading group fell apart. Two groups formed: While in the front, eight-person group with Ballan ( Lampre-Fondital ), Boonen ( Quick Step ), the eventual winner Cancellara, Flecha, Guesdon , Leif Hoste from Discovery Channel and Peter Van Petegem ( Davitamon-Lotto ) important favorites were represented, drivers like Steffen Wesemann ( T-Mobile Team ) from Switzerland, weakened by a virus infection, were already falling behind.

Cancellara sets the decisive attack

Fabian Cancellara then made the decisive attack about 25 kilometers from the finish. Only the Russian Gusev was able to follow, while Flecha and Boonen tried in vain to reconnect. After the Russian Discovery rider couldn't follow the Swiss rider a few minutes after the attack, a group of three formed with him, Hoste and Van Petegem, followed again by the rest of the original lead with world champion Boonen and some riders who are back could catch up.

The final phase

Controversial decision at the railway barrier without influence on Cancellara's victory

When the trio around Van Petegem tried to overtake Cancellara again, they crossed a closed railway barrier shortly before the finish. Since they apparently disregarded the commissioners' instructions, they were subsequently disqualified. Neither the disqualification of the group of three around Van Petegem nor the additional time lag of the group around Boonen, which stopped at the barrier, had an impact on Cancellara's victory.

In the end, Cancellara, who was certified by all competitors to have been the strongest on that day, was able to enter the Roubaix stadium with a lead of over a minute. In the last few kilometers he was able to play to his time trial skills, extend and defend his lead.

The placed

In the Velodrome of Roubaix, Belgian Tom Boonen sprinted almost two minutes behind Alessandro Ballan and Juan Antonio Flecha in fifth place, which earned him second place after the disqualification of the trio around Van Petegem. In front of Steffen Wesemann, who moved up from ninth to sixth due to the disqualification, the Austrian Bernhard Eisel was able to place fifth.

An award ceremony without second and third place

The disqualification for disregarding the barrier had an impact on the award ceremony: Alessandro Ballan and Tom Boonen, who did not agree to the disqualification of his three competitors and therefore felt that he was “fifth, not second” in the race, stayed at the award ceremony far, which was performed alone with Cancellara.

Web links

Commons : Paris – Roubaix 2006  - Collection of images, videos and audio files