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Tom Boonen enters Sunday’s 2012 Paris-Roubaix as overwhelming favourite. Join us for live updates and blog of the Paris-Roubaix – the Queen of the Classics – from 5pm, AEST.
Paris-Roubaix is a brutal 258km trek from Compeigne, an hour north of Paris, to the Belgian border in north France. Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) enters the race looking to land a record-equalling fourth win in the ‘Hell of the North’.
Following energy-sapping sectors amounting to a total of 51.5km bone-jarring cobblestone roads, the last men standing (so to speak) will battle it out inside the 400m velodrome in Roubaix in front of vast crowds of passionate onlookers.
A cold and wet forecast means the race could well be muddy and no doubt peppered with crashes and punctures.
Last year’s winner Johan Vansummeren (Garmin-Barracuda) will be one of Boonen’s main rivals, along with Italians Filippo Pozzato (Farnese-Vini) and Alessandro Ballan (BMC Racing), both of whom finished either side of the Belgian on the Tour of Flanders podium a fortnight ago.
If Boonen can add to his wins in 2005, 2008 and 2009, the 31-year-old will draw level with compatriot Roger de Vlaeminck’s record tally of four Paris-Roubaix titles. After winning E3 Harelbeke, Gent-Wevelgem and the Tour of Flanders, Boonen is the man to beat on Sunday – especially with arch-cobble-rival Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) sidelined with a broken collarbone.
But competition may also come from BMC sleeping giant Thor Hushovd, who finished third, second and eighth in the last three editions of Roubaix.
The Norwegian and former world champion has not been in the best of form this season since his move to Cadel Evans’s BMC team, but in the lead-up to the race, Hushovd reiterated that Paris-Roubaix was an “obsession” for him, stressing it was “the one race of my dreams, the one I want to win before I call a halt in my career.”
One thing is for certain, if the race comes down to a sprint between a cluster of riders in the famous velodrome at Roubaix, 34-year-old Hushovd is perhaps the only man with a strong enough sprint to compete with Boonen.
Join us as we live blog the Paris-Roubaix with live updates, timings and updates on how competitors are faring in jolted and dusty pain. Leave your comments on the live blog below.
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