All Hail Spartacus

Thanks to SBS, viewers here in Oz got to watch the final 100-odd km of the 2010 Paris-Roubaix, and what a privilege it was.

Fabian Cancellara, in an absolutely dominant performance, simply exerted his will at the 50km mark and rode away from his rivals in imperious fashion to set up a magnificent win. What's more, he rode away from a group which included virtually every favourite for the race: Boonen, Flecha, Hushovd, Pozzato.

Earlier, Spartacus' Saxo Bank team mates had put the sword to the main peleton and ground out their soul (if not their actual physical presence) with a domineering display of bunch riding into strong head and cross winds.

Approaching the infamous Arenberg Forest, Cancellara and Boonen led the charge onto the cobbles and, ramping up the speeds across the notorious surface (a bit tamer this year thanks to dry conditions), had reduced a 19 strong lead group's margin to around a minute, with the catch following near the 68km mark.

At this stage, Boonen initiated a series of digs over the next 15km, but Cancellara quickly covered these, clearly alert to any potential splits. Boonen looked strong at this stage, but with his moves covered, he settled back into the grind, and the leading pack let a small bunch of 4 get off the front to around about 30 seconds or so.

Then, on the smooth section of road just before the longish Mons-en-Pévèle cobbles section (3000m), and with 50km to the finish line, Spartacus lit the wick and within the blink of an eye had scooted and gained 100 metres on the favourites group.

He'd timed it perfectly: the pace had slackened, Boonen had gravitated to the rear of the group, and the road ahead narrowed and curved. Boonen was hung up behind the group as they approached the narrow curve and lost precious seconds. Fabian literally disappeared in an instant, never to be glimpsed again. This turn of speed, combined with a fatal hesitation by the rest of the group, Boonen included, and the approaching cobble section, set Fabian on the pave to victory.

From there, it was a time trail, and Spartacus did what he does best: got his head down, his bum up, and drilled out km after km like a metronome. With a lead of more than 2 min at the 20km to go mark, and a favourites chase bunch rattled, undecisive and downright blown apart physically and mentally, it was all over. The gap opened out to over 3 minutes before Fabian knocked it back a notch with 5 km to go and started enjoying it: his final leisurely, triumphant lap-and-a-half around the velodrome left him with a 2 min win. Flecha and Hushovd had skipped away from the group at around the 16km mark and entered the velodrome together, with the God of Thunder taking second over a very tired Flecha: Thor can likely thank Flecha for his second as it was the Spaniard who made the dig at the 16km mark and did the majority of the work into the velodrome.

Boonen crossed the line 5th after a desultory attempt to claim 4th over Hammond: he looked mentally broken, but to his credit he had kept going.

Mike Tomalaris, the SBS commentator, seemed to rue the fact that it wasn't a closer race. I personally thought it was one of the best races seen in many a while and all congrats to Spartacus for his crushing win: I'm pretty sure Eddy Merckx would've enjoyed it :)

See you out there!

Ride safe!