Real race news will give you insight and drama. I’ll just leave you with pictures. And a few words.
Roubaix is a pretty depressed town. Granted it was a Sunday, but the town had a creepy feeling to it. Following the signs from the city center to the Velodrome led down some pretty rough streets, and eventually we found the route.
We were about an hour and a half early. When we left the hotel in Roubaix to find the route the riders had about 120km to go. It took us an hour to get to the velodrome and once we were there we secured a spot to watch.
Once settled in the anticipation grew. First the team cars. Then the press. Then the officials. Then the leader board. Then the sponsor parade. And finally the racers.
First was Cancellara. Fresh off a win at the Ronde, his name was blasted by the leader car minutes before he arrived. We knew he was coming and all hope of Hincapie winning(yeah yeah yeah) were gone.
He was moving so quickly the camera couldn’t even focus on him the second time.
Soon after came Flecha and Hushovd. We were really expecting Boonen to be sitting on Cancellara’s wheel, but no luck. Good on Flecha though finishing so well.
A few minutes later, Boonen finally came through.
Everytime a group of racers came through the crowd went nuts. Even on down to the last bunch.
If you look closely, the Sky rider in this photo lost his seat. That’s bad ass.
After the race we made our way back to the city center for some dinner and a cognac. It was an amazing time. I highly recommend a trip to Roubaix if you like bike racing. It’s awesome. And stay at the Hotel Francais in the City Center. Do yourself a favor and don’t save money by staying at Hotel Formula1. Seriously.