103rd Paris-Roubaix - PT

France, April 10, 2005

Photography

Race Day

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Images by Jonathan Devich/epicimages.us

Jimmy Casper (Cofidis) prepares to buckle up for the day.
Magnus Backstedt (Liquigas - Bianchi) was all smiles at the start.
Fassa Bortolo riders have some fun before the race.
Riders blaze through the first section of cobbles.
An RAGT rider leads the chase for the break.
Sergio Paulinho (Liberty Seguros) leads another chase group.
Dust kicks up as the caraven makes its way through the first section.
Say Ahhh!
Jaan Kirsipuu (Credit Agricole) makes it safely over a muddy section of pave.
Juan Antonio Flecha leads George Hincapie and Tom Boonen into the velodrome.
The final three go high on the bank of the track.
A later group sprints for the line.
Tom Boonen loves those cobbles.
You get muddy even during a relatively clean edition of Paris-Roubaix
Nick Nuyens shows off the dirt from the long day.
George Hincapie (Discovery) with daughter Paris on the podium
A TV cameraman gets trampled in the post-race crush
New ProTour leader Tom Boonen with Francesco Moser on the podium

Images by Hedwig Kröner

Peter Van Petegem looking ahead at the start
First cobble section: here they come!
Loads of dust and flying riders...
...speeding very near
The first crash happened just moments after this
Fabian Cancellara explaining his bad luck at the finish
Flecha needs to sit down on the grass of Roubaix velodrome
The third-placed surrounded by hords of journalists
Jimmy Casper (Cofidis) can't believe he's finally arrived
The 1999 winner Andrea Tafi waves Goodbye to cycling

Images by Fotoreporter Sirotti

The peloton speeds along the cobbles
Here they come!
Andrea Tafi (Saunier Duval) rides in the peloton
Fassa Bortolo's Petito on the front with Zabel
Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) hammers along with Backstedt in tow
The five man break driven by Tom Boonen
Boonen leads Flecha and Hincapie on the cobbles
Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) wins the 103rd Paris-Roubaix
Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) celebrates his win over Hincapie and Flecha
Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) from the perspective of Hincapie and Flecha
Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) is hoisted high in the velodrome
Andrea Tafi (Saunier Duval) at the end of his last Paris-Roubaix
Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) is really happy with this one
Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) kisses the treasured cobblestone
Boonen does his weight training with a cobblestone
Peter Van Petegem (Davitamon-Lotto), riding with the favourites until his fateful crash.
Eventual winner Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) biding his time.
This is the view the Euskaltel-Euskadi riders saw for much of the race.
The Flandrian flag flying high.
The early break.
Nervous energy - the start in Compiegne.
Almost time to roll out.
Andrea Tafi (Saunier Duval) in his final Paris-Roubaix.
Warning: only cycling-mad fans allowed.
The lead group containing Boonen, Hincapie and Flecha...
... with a larger group not too far behind, but not close enough.
Eyes wide open for Juan Antonio Flecha (Fassa Bortolo).
Quick.Step rode a perfect team race today.
Magnus Backstedt (Liquigas-Bianchi) leads George Hincapie (Discovery Channel).
Not a good idea to take your hands off the bars on the pavé.
An overcast day, but not the downpour predicted.
And then they were three: Hincapie, Flecha and Boonen.
One long line of suffering.
Quick.Step could do no wrong today.
Andrea Tafi (Saunier Duval) wasn't at his best today.
The peloton on their way to the Roubaix velodrome.
The early break still going.
Waiting in anticipation - hopefully not for crash...
Here they come!
One of many groups out on the parcours.
Andrea Tafi (Saunier Duval) leads his group over one of the final sections of pavé.
Oww; as gaps open, things really begin to hurt.
Double oww.
Andrea Tafi (Saunier Duval) celebrates finishing his final Roubaix.
Andrea Tafi (Saunier Duval) and Johan Museeuw.
Who's the lucky boy, eh?
That hurt thinks Backstedt.
That hurt says Backstedt.
I'd like a warm shower right now, thinks George Hincapie.
The face of someone who hasn't won...
... and the faces of people who have.
Not an easy day on the back of a moto, either.
That way! motions a Quick.Step soigneur as the media come rushing towards Boonen.
The first of many Roubaix trophies for the 24 year-old Belgian?
Indeed, V is for victory.
The podium.
Everyone's a happy camper on the Roubaix podium.

Images by Roberto Bettini/www.bettiniphoto.net

Boonen gets some encouragement en route
Flecha leads Hincapie and Boonen in the Roubaix velodrome
Tom Boonen (Quick.Step) beats George Hincapie (Discovery) to win Paris-Roubaix
Juan-Antonio Flecha (Fassa Bortolo) had to be content with a muddy third place

Images by Régis Garnier/www.velofotopro.fr.st

Ready for Paris-Roubaix?
Number 81 for Andréa Tafi (Saunier Duval)
Jimmy Casper (Cofidis)
Nico Mattan (Davitamon-Lotto) the winner of Gent-Wevelgem
Angelo Furlan befor the start.
Andrea Tafi (Saunier Duval) chats with Rolf Sorensen
...and with Johan Museeuw
Tom Steels: it's enough?
Happy Birthday Mr Daniel Mangeas the famous race announcer
A happy eventual winner Tom Boonen (Quick.Step)
Geoffroy Lequatre (CA): It's my dog!!
It's a hard day for the bicycles...
Erik Zabel (T-Mobile)
Walter Beneteau takes a pic of Richard Virenque
George Hincapie (Discovery)
Alessandro Ballan (Lampre) gives a big smile.
Another big smile for Victor Hugo Pena (Phonak) who unfortunately crashed in the neutral zone and abandoned
The start in Compiegne

Bikes of Paris-Roubaix - Phonak

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Images by Gerard Knapp/Cyclingnews.com

Phonak goes aluminium - BMC has supplied Phonak with special Easton aluminium frames for Paris-Roubaix, with longer stays and more clearance.
Where's that confounded bridge? There isn't one - Phonak's BMC's lack a chainstay bridge so crud has one less place to accumulate.
Welds not bonding on the head tube joints of Phonak's Paris-Roubaix specials
Campagnolo Electric's big day - Robert Hunter's Phonak BMC is equipped with Campagnolo's experimental Electric group. Here you can see the solenoid inside the rear derailleur
A Phonak mechanic preps one of the team's fleet for Roubaix
The new shifters look a lot like standard Record parts, but the internals and feel are very different
Electric brain sits tidily under the bottle cage
The front derailleur can be programmed to handle problems like large-large sprocket/ring combinations
Carbon shifters, aluminium cranks - despite the extensive use of carbon in the Campagnolo Electric components, Hunter is using aluminium cranks
A Phonak mechanic makes sure there's plenty of glue to hold the tyre in place across the cobbles.
Mission control Campagnolo's Ergobrain computer gets data from plenty of sources if those wires are anything to go by!

Bikes of Paris-Roubaix - Discovery Channel & T-Mobile

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Images by Gerard Knapp/Cyclingnews.com

Rear suspension on the special-edition Discovery Trek
George Hincapie's bikes - can Discovery's Classics man finally do it this year?
Discovery's special suspension Treks - with the team bike's famed handling good-manners and some bump absorption in back, these could be perfect bad-roads bikes.
Stijn Devolder's bike - if it's muddy, that colour scheme will sure show it!
Discovery's bikes - note Eki's moniker in Cyrillic lettering!
Erik Zabel's aluminium Giant has a shorter-than-standard top tube, perhaps for a more upright position over the cobbles.
Zabel's Giants shows the scars from a couple of weeks of muddy racing - maybe a bit more clearance would help!
Tight end - Giant's road bikes are typically close-coupled and Zabel's is no exception. T-Mobile mechanics have already ground out the drop-outs to try and get a bit more space.
A T-Mobile Giant takes a rest
Erik Zabel's carbon fiber Giant will probbaly stay in teh team car for Roubaix
Steffen Wesemann's bike is halfway to being a cyclo-cross rig!
Cantilever brakes on Wesemann's Paris-Roubaix special
The cantilever brakes are mounted on glued-and-rivetted bosses
Wesemann's stem is drilled for the cantilever brake cable - definitely one of the more unusual front-ends at Paris-Roubaix
A closer look at Wesemann's drilled stem.

Bikes of Paris-Roubaix - Credit Agricole

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Images by Gerard Knapp/Cyclingnews.com

Credit Agricole mechanics prep one of the team's bikes for Paris-Roubaix.
The adjustable drop-out of the Look 481SL makes it easy for machenics to quickly lengthen the stays to accommodate fatter tyres and provide a less jarring ride.
A Look 481SL gets ready for Pars-Roubaix
Some of Credit Agricole's fleet of Look 481SLs, ready to rumble on the road to Roubaix
481 SL, to the front! Credit Agricole's usual featherweight 585 bikes will be left on the subs bench for Paris-Roubaix.

Andrea Tafi press conference

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Images by Jean-Francois Quenet

Andreaa Tafi gives a pre-race press conference with Saunier Duval team director Mauro Gianetti
Andreaa Tafi holds up his special Paris-Roubaix jersey with pavé
Andreaa Tafi with his special Paris-Roubaix jersey with pavé

Pre-race training

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Images by Fotoreporter Sirotti

Tafi touches the famed cobbles note cyclocross-style brake levers
Rolling out - thoroughly insulated from the weather
Tafi demonstrates the bar-top levers
The road goes ever on and on - but the cobbles only go for a few kilometres at a time.
Rolling out with Saunier Duval team-mates.
The Saunier Duval riders for Roubaix are mostly Italian
A blatant excuse to show off the sponsor's bike
And it's light enough that if I have to carry it…
Tafi really loves Roubaix
Tafi and the 'are we there yet' crew
Tafi looks to be enjoying himself. Sick man.
A little cornering practice
There are cobbles somewhere under the mud
Okay, so it's a bit gloomy...
Give us a wave, Andrea!
Across the turn, round the puddle, avoid the broken tarmac - just a few Paris-Roubaix problems
Destination: Roubaix Velodrome

Images by AFP Photo

Quick.Step and Tom Boonen tackle the Paris-Roubaix parcours
Quick.Step and Tom Boonen ride the cobbles - and it's looking more and more like it's going to be wet
Credit Agricole riders dodge puddles while checking out the Paris-Roubaix parcours.
CSC powers across the fields of Nothern France.
Cofidis riders get familiar with the cobbles.
Bouygues Telecom riders enjoy the cool Spring sunshine - and the cobbles.
Fdjeux.com cycling team members tackle a climb on a cold day in Northern France.
Cofidis riders treating the cobbles recce as a chance for a blast before Sunday.
Fdjeux.com huddling together for warmth.
Cofidis conquer more cobbles.
Cofidis look like they're enjoying themselves way too much. Just wait till Sunday...