Boonen wins on his roubaix at roubaix

April 13th, 2009

Tom Boonen confirmed yet again he’s the king of the cobblestones after winning the “queen of the classics” for the third time in five years at Paris-Roubaix on Sunday.
Just a week after Stijn Devolder defended his title at Tour of Flanders aboard a Tarmac SL2, Boonen did the same thing on a muggy, windy Easter Sunday aboard an S-Works Roubaix SL2, giving the pair a unique place in history of the becoming the first teammates to defend their respective victories in the Flanders-Roubaix double.
“To win alone in Roubaix is like a dream,” Boonen said. “I honestly didn’t think I would win today. I didn’t think I had good legs, but I was at the right place at the decisive moment and I started to feel better.”
Winning Roubaix – arguably cycling’s most difficult race with 52.9km of rough cobblestones spread over 27 sections in the 259km run from Compiègne to Roubaix — is never easy, something Boonen was quick to admit.
The Quick Step captain overcame a crash, a mechanical problem and avoided two costly crashes on the decisive Carrefour de l’Arbre cobblestone section with 17km to go to drop an elite group of six leading riders to claim victory in the best possible way.