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100th Paris-Roubaix - CDM
France, April 14, 2002
Results Live report Race day photos
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Johan Museeuw dominates Centenary Edition
Gains '02 World Cup Lead
By Tim Maloney, European editor
Basking in the sparkling late afternoon sunlight and the glow from thousands of his delighted fans in the Roubaix Velodrome, tears streaking his mud-encrusted face, Johan Museeuw (Domo-Farm Frites) crossed the finish line to win the 100th Anniversary edition of Paris-Roubaix after his runner-up spot last year.
Museeuw sealed his win with an incredible 41km solo break and a victory salute of ten outstretched fingers, signifying his tenth career World Cup win. After his emotional second place to Andrea Tafi last week in the Tour of Flanders, Museeuw also took over first place in the 2002 World Cup standings.
"After Flanders, I was very disappointed," Museeuw told French TV in the velodrome infield," so today I wanted some revenge – to come back and win my third Paris-Roubaix."
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In fact, Museeuw was so vexed after last week's loss in "his" Flanders (a three time victor, he wanted to crown his career with a record-breaking fourth Flanders win) that he threatened to quit, but as has happened before in Museeuw's career, the hard-headed Belgian has what it takes to overcome defeat like the true champion he is.
With his centenary victory today, the 35 year old Museeuw's 13th participation in the Queen of the Classics and the 49th win overall by a Belgian, the man from Gistel joins post-war three-time winners Italian Francesco Moser, fellow Belgians Eddy Merckx and Ric Van Looy in the Roubaix pantheon, and has surely earned the title of the top classics rider of his generation. He now trails only Roger DeVlaeminck's four Paris-Roubaix wins.
On this cool, windy day marked by showers and slimy, slippery pavé, last week's Flanders champ Andrea Tafi (Mapei-Quick Step) ended up 17th, 9'11" behind. Tafi doesn't like the wet and cold and the tough Tuscan had some bronchial problems this past week. When Museeuw made his first move in the pavé of the Arenberg Forest, German rider Stefan Wesemann (Telekom) finally had his World Cup breakthrough today for second place, after last year's disappointing ride due to shoe problems.
Aside from Museeuw's performance, the ride of the day certainly belongs to 21 year old Belgian Tom Boonen (USPS), who had a sensational day to finish third, just behind the Telekom man. Perhaps the shape of things to come where Belgian classics riders are concerned, Boonen has been a top amateur for years in Belgium, with lots of experience on the pavé (see cyclingnews.com's interview with USPS team Director and former Paris-Roubaix champ Dirk DeMol). Neo-pro Boonen was already in the early break of the day, waiting for USPS team leader George Hincapie to come up and the way things worked out, he ended up on the podium in his first pro Paris-Roubaix.
Hincapie is having a solid classics campaign so far this year; his fourth place in last week's Tour of Flanders demonstrated he has the legs, but so far this year, not the luck. Once Museeuw flew the coop, only Hincapie and Boonen could follow him, but on the slippery pavé section #4 at Camphin-En-Pevele with 18km to go, Hincapie crashed into a ditch on the left side of the road and lost Boonen's wheel for good, eventually being caught by the chase group just behind.
How it unfolded
In fact, Boonen was up front all day while the experienced Museeuw made the key moves later. With a strong northeast wind from the English Channel and intermittent showers, the peloton began forming echelons on the way to St. Quentin. After 38km and with 223km to go to Roubaix, 33 riders had a half-minute lead on the peloton, with Domo, Mapei and Big Mat in evidence.
But the wind, rain and slippery pavé took its toll and by Haveluy, the 16th of the 26 pavé sections, there were 13 riders away with a 4'30" lead on the peloton. Behind the break, USPS was setting a strong tempo, led by ex-mountain biker Floyd Landis and Tony Cruz. In front, Raphael Schweda (Coast) and Nico Mattan seemed to be doing much of the forcing, with Domo men Cassani and Van Heeswijk keeping a lid on things awaiting the inevitable arrival of Museeuw from behind.
The real race began to take shape in the Forest of Arenberg, pavé section 16, where Cassani attacked up front, sapping the legs of his rivals, while 4'00" behind, Museeuw blasted away on the front of the chase, Eventually his forcing broke the chase apart, with Museeuw joined by Hincapie, Lars Michaelsen (Coast) and Wesemann (Telekom) as part of the ever-changing chase group. As the riders took their musettes at the second feed zone in Orchies with 60km to race, the face of 2002's Paris-Roubaix began to take definitive shape.
Up front, the remains of the original break was an eight-rider group, with Domo men Cassani and Van Heeswijk, Boonen, Schweda, Tristan Hoffman (CSC-Tiscali), Hans De Clercq (Lotto-Addeco), Bodrogi (Mapei-Qstep) and Mattan. Two minutes behind and closing fast was the Domo-ed chase group that had emerged from the peloton.
As they hit pavé section #12, Museeuw accelerated and only last year's winner Servais Knaven (Domo), Hincapie and Michaelsen could follow. This pursuit match continued, with De Clercq and Mattan attacking on every pavé section and various elements of the break chasing them down and reforming.
Museeuw continued to force the pace, inexorably closing the gap on the front group. Just before the notorious Mons-En-Pevele, pavé section #9, the seven chasers joined the five leaders for an even dozen of mud-caked desperado bikers, looking to get to Roubaix no matter what.
But as usual in Paris-Roubaix, the status quo didn't last long. Once the riders hit pavé #8 in Merignies, a tough but short 700m section, Museeuw took off and it looked like it was for good.
"I thought it was the right moment and so I went – I had a flash in my head," said Museeuw, "is it too far? Because there were a lot of good riders there – Hincapie, Tom Boonen..."
But go he did and only the two USPS men could follow Museeuw. Hands in the hooks, mouth wide open, snot dripping from his nose, Museeuw powered his huge gear away from one and all, showing the immense class and experience of a man with a date with destiny.
Three pavé sections closer to Roubaix at #6, Le Moulin De Vertain, a newly-restored tract only half a kilometre long, Museeuw had gained 25" on the USPS duo and 45" on the chase with two of his DFF team-mates with 30km to race. Domo DS Wilfried Peeters, Museeuw's perennial team-mate, drove up alongside to tell him the situation and Museeuw drove himself even harder towards Roubaix.
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As if pushed by invisible hands, Museeuw's gap continued to grow and by the notorious Camphin-En-Pevele pave #4, he had 1'35" on the USPS pursuit team, which came asunder when Hincapie crashed into the drainage ditch on the left side of the farm road. Boonen continued alone until a hard-charging Wesemann came up to the powerful young Belgian, eventually beating him in the sprint for runner-up spot in Roubaix.
But nothing would or could stop Museeuw today. He flew over the cobbles today; intuitively choosing the best line to ride and putting the competition further and further behind. Wesemann and Boonen came in just over three minutes behind, while Hoffman took the sprint from a seven man chase group four minutes back. Tristan Hoffman (CSC-Tiscali) took the sprint for fourth, with Hincapie sixth and US Champ Fred Rodriguez (Domo), a respectable 27th in his first Paris-Roubaix.
Next Sunday, Museeuw will defend his World Cup lead in the tough, hilly Liege-Bastogne-Liege, where he finished 90th in 2000 and sixth in 1997.
Photography
Photography by Fotoreporter Sirotti
- Teams assemble at the start line.
- The competition begins.
- The riders begin the road to Roubaix.
- The Peleton ride on narrow paths.
- Here comes the mud! - riders endure the sinking conditions.
- Enrico Cassani (Domo) and Tom Boonen (USPS) suffer on the pavè.
- George Hincapie (USPS) rides the pavè.
- Johan Museeuw (Domo) shows who boss with a three minute gap and a 41km solo effort.
- Steffen Wesemann (Telekom) tries to chase Museeuw down.
- Tom Boonen (USPS) fights the grime to chase a podium finish.
- Johan Museeuw (Domo) on the break that lasted all the way to the line.
- Johan Museeuw (Domo) crosses the line with a gesture to indicate his 10th career World Cup win.
- Domo team management guide a completely shagged Johan Museeuw (Domo) to somewhere with less cobbles.
- 2001 winner Servais Knaven (Domo) finishes with a respectable 13th place.
- Johan Museeuw (Domo) salutes the crowd with his Paris-Roubaix trophy.
- Steffen Wesemann Johan Museeuw and Tom Boonen salute the crowd.
- Steffen Wesemann Johan Museeuw and Tom Boonen (l-r) look a little happier after losing the day's mud coating.
More Paris-Roubaix photography
Results - 261 km
1 Johan Museeuw (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 6.39.08 (39.35 km/h) 2 Steffen Wesemann (Ger) Team Telekom 3.04 3 Tom Boonen (Bel) US Postal Service 3.08 4 Tristan Hoffman (Ned) Team CSC Tiscali 4.02 5 Lars Michaelsen (Den) Team Coast 6 George Hincapie (USA) US Postal Service 7 Thierry Gouvenou (Fra) Bigmat.Auber 93 8 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Domo-Farm Frites 9 Nico Mattan (Bel) Cofidis 10 Enrico Cassani (Ita) Domo-Farm Frites 11 Raphael Schweda (Ger) Team Coast 4.09 12 Hans De Clercq (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 8.07 13 Servais Knaven (Ned) Domo-Farm Frites 14 Frank Hoj (Den) Team Coast 15 Zbigniew Spruch (Pol) Lampre-Daikin 16 Maximilian Sciandri (GBr) Lampre-Daikin 8.14 17 Andrea Tafi (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 9.11 18 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Lotto-Adecco 19 Tom Flammang (Lux) Cofidis 20 Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank 21 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 22 Marco Milesi (Ita) Domo-Farm Frites 9.17 23 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner 24 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank 25 Rolf Aldag (Ger) Team Telekom 26 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Telekom 9.59 27 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Domo-Farm Frites 14.00 28 Matthé Pronk (Ned) Rabobank 15.18 29 Denis Zanette (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 15.21 30 Jean-Michel Tessier (Fra) Cofidis 31 Torsten Nitsche (Ger) Saeco-Longoni Sport 32 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Fassa Bortolo 33 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 16.38 34 Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 17.15 35 Ludovic Capelle (Bel) Ag2R Prevoyance 17.48 36 Sven Nijs (Bel) Rabobank (Bel) Rabobank 37 Alexei Sivakov (Rus) Bigmat.Auber 93 38 Inigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 39 Pedro Horrillo Munoz (Spa) Mapei-Quick Step 40 Robert Hunter (RSA) Mapei-Quick Step 41 Ludovic Auger (Fra) Bigmat.Auber 93
41 riders finished inside the time limit from 190 starters.
World cup standings after round 3
1 Johan Museeuw (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 170 pts 2 Mario Cipollini (Ita) Acqua & Sapone Cantina 120 3 Andrea Tafi (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 109 4 George Hincapie (USA) Us Postal Service 82 5 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Domo-Farm Frites 79 6 Steffen Wesemann (Ger) Team Telekom 70 7 Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 61 8 Jo Planckaert (Bel) Cofidis 55 9 Tom Boonen (Bel) Us Postal Service 52 10 Markus Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 51 11 Lars Michaelsen (Den) Team Coast 49 12 Enrico Cassani (Ita) Domo-Farm Frites 46 13 Tristan Hoffman (Ned) Team Csc Tiscali 40 14 Daniele Nardello (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 36 15 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Mapei-Quick Step 36 16 Rolf Sorensen (Den) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 32 17 Tomas Konecny (Cze) Domo-Farm Frites 32 18 Thierry Gouvenou (Fra) Big Mat - Auber 93 28 19 Andrei Tchmil (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 28 20 Andrej Hauptman (Slo) Tacconi Sport 25 21 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Domo-Farm Frites 24 22 Gabriele Missaglia (Ita) Lampre Daikin 24 23 Jan Svorada (Cze) Lampre Daikin 24 24 Nico Mattan (Bel) Cofidis 23 25 Paolo Bossoni (Ita) Tacconi Sport 20 26 Servais Knaven (Ned) Domo-Farm Frites 17 27 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Telekom 16 28 Mario Manzoni (Ita) Index Alexia 16 29 Raphael Schweda (Ger) Team Coast 15 31 Hans De Clercq (Bel) Lotto-Adecco 14 32 Robert Hunter (RSA) Mapei-Quick Step 14 33 Paolo Lanfranchi (Ita) Index Alexia 14 34 Frank Hoj (Den) Team Coast 12 35 Mauro Zinetti (Ita) Index Alexia 12 36 Zbigniew Spruch (Pol) Lampre Daikin 11 37 Stefano Zanini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 11 38 Maximilian Sciandri (GBr) Lampre Daikin 10 39 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 10 40 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Team Gerolsteiner 10 41 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 9 42 Aart Vierhouten (Ned) Lotto-Adecco 8 43 Ludo Dierckxsens (Bel) Lampre Daikin 8 44 Giuseppe Di Grande (Ita) Index Alexia 8 45 Tom Flammang (Lux) Cofidis 7 46 Marc Lotz (Ned) Rabobank 7 47 Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank 6 48 Matthew Wilson (Aus) La Francaise Des Jeux 6 49 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskatel-Euska 6 50 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites 5 51 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Team Csc Tiscali 5 52 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Once-Eroski 5 53 Marco Milesi (Ita) Domo-Farm Frites 4 54 Igor Flores Galarza (Spa) Euskatel-Euskadi 4 55 Dario Pieri (Ita) Alessio 3 56 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank 2 57 Rolf Aldag (Ger) Team Telekom 1 58 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Ibanesto. 1
