Australian veteran Mathew Hayman has deprived Tom Boonen of a record-breaking fifth Paris-Roubaix title by winning the Queen of the Classics after the leading favourites got trapped behind a big crash.
The Orica-GreenEDGE rider, 37, outsprinted Belgian Boonen on the final bend of the Roubaix velodrome on Sunday as British rider Ian Stannard took third place at the end of a crash-ridden 257.5-km ride featuring 52.8 km of cobbled sectors.
Pre-race favourites Peter Sagan, the world champion, and Fabian Cancellara, who was gunning for a fourth title, effectively lost the race when they found themselves on the wrong end of a bunch split after a massive pile-up some 115km from the line.
Swiss Cancellara later crashed on the wet cobbles and finished more than seven minutes behind Hayman on his last Paris-Roubaix before retiring at the end of the season.
“I can’t believe it, I broke my arm five weeks ago and missed all the racing, I just raced a race in Spain last week,” said Hayman, whose best previous result in the race was eighth place in 2012.
“This is my favourite race but this year I didn’t even dare to dream.”
Hayman was in the day’s breakaway and when the big guns caught the group he managed to keep with them. Despite a late mechanical problem, he stayed among the five riders who went on to contest the victory.
Boonen attacked with 2.7km left but Hayman followed and countered, only for the 2005 world champion to rejoin him. The Australian, however, was the stronger on the final sprint.
Belgian Sep Vanmarcke took fourth place ahead of Norway’s Edvald Boasson Hagen, while Australian Heinrich Haussler finished sixth, a minute behind Hayman.
“I knew I had to take it easy (in the breakaway) and I was waiting for the big guys to come, I saved all day,” Hayman explained.
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