From Reuters:
Niki Terpstra of the Netherlands seized his opportunity to pip the pre-race favourites and clinch the biggest victory of his career when he won the Paris-Roubaix classic on Sunday.
Terpstra, one of the in-form riders going into the 257-km race featuring 51.1 km of cobbled sectors, attacked a group of favourites with six kilometres left and never looked back.
He crossed the line on the outdoor Roubaix velodrome some 20 seconds ahead of German John Degenkolb.
Swiss Fabian Cancellara, who was bidding to become the first rider to achieve three Paris-Roubaix/Tour of Flanders doubles, came third after failing to make his move earlier in the race.
Belgian Tom Boonen, Terpstra’s team leader at Omega Pharma-Quick Step, was the most aggressive rider of the day but he crossed the line in 10th place and failed to become the only man with five Roubaix titles.
“It’s the best day of my career. I had some nice results, especially this year, and then to take the win in the biggest Classic of all is a dream come true,” Terpstra, his face covered with a mix of dust and sweat, told reporters.
“It’s a race that suits me well. My shape this year was really good so I was motivated for a good result. The team were good, we had some riders to play with, so I attacked and it was a good attack,” added the first Dutchman since Servais Knaven in 2001 to prevail in the Hell of the North.
The win put balm on the Omega Pharma-Quick Step team, who were outplayed in the Tour of Flanders last Sunday.
“I don’t like the word revenge,” team boss Patrick Lefevere told reporters.
“Terpstra won but we raced so that the team could win. In the end, Boonen stopped thinking like a leader, he brought back the (chasing) group so that Terpstra could come back.
“It’s not the freshest rider who won but the smartest.”
Boonen launched his first attack with 65 km left but came up just short, paying in the finale a price for his repeated efforts having not received a lot of help from his breakaway companions.
IMPRESSIVE WIGGINS
The favourites eventually regrouped despite Peter Sagan’s solo attempts, and the mind games started.
While all eyes were on Belgian Sep Vanmarcke, Cancellara, Sagan and Boonen, Terpstra powered away and only Geraint Thomas, eventually a decent seventh for Team Sky, tried to bridge the gap.
It was a good day for the British outfit although Thomas refused to fully cooperate with Boonen and possibly missed out on a better result.
Bradley Wiggins, the first rider since Greg Lemond in 1992 to start the Queen of the Classics as a former Tour de France winner, ended up an impressive ninth.
Others were eliminated by bad luck — a major actor in Paris-Roubaix.
Milan-San Remo winner Alexander Kristoff punctured in the Trouee d’Arenberg, one of the most feared cobbled sectors less than 100 km from the finish.
He punctured again and then crashed on the unluckiest day for the Norwegian from the Katusha team.
Edvald Boasson-Hagen of Norway and France’s Arnaud Demarre were also among the riders with outside chances who hit the deck.
Cancellara, the defending champion, was briefly held back after team mate Hayden Roulston caused a pile up when he crashed at the front of the pack.
The Swiss, who looked slightly below his usual awe-inspiring best, never seemed in the mix for victory, yet he claimed a 12th consecutive podium place on the Monument races (Milan-San Remo, Flanders, Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, Tour of Lombardy) he finished.
“I can be proud, I did my best,” Cancellara told reporters.
“In the end it was tactical. I wanted to attack but I knew the others were waiting for me to do that. And I was fancying my chances in a sprint.”
2014 Paris-Roubaix Brief Results:
- Niki Terpstra (Netherlands / Omega Pharma – Quick-Step) 6:09:01″
- John Degenkolb (Germany / Giant) +20″
- Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland / Trek)
- Sep Vanmarcke (Belgium / Belkin)
- Zdenek Stybar (Czech Republic / Omega Pharma – Quick-Step)
- Peter Sagan (Slovakia / Cannondale)
- Geraint Thomas (Britain / Team Sky)
- Sebastian Langeveld (Netherlands / Garmin)
- Bradley Wiggins (Britain / Team Sky)
- Tom Boonen (Belgium / Omega Pharma – Quick-Step)
- Bert De Backer (Belgium / Giant) +26″
- Arnaud Demare (France / FDJ.fr) +47″
- Bernhard Eisel (Austria / Team Sky)
- Sebastien Turgot (France / AG2R)
- Bjoern Leukemans (Belgium / Wanty)
- Stijn Vandenbergh (Belgium / Omega Pharma – Quick-Step)
- Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium / BMC Racing)
- Jos van Emden (Netherlands / Belkin)
- Thor Hushovd (Norway / BMC Racing) +1:05″
- Jempy Druecker (Luxembourg / Wanty)
Ron Callahan is the chief cook and bottlewasher at Bike World News, doing everything from website design to bike reviews.