Friday, December 13, 2024

The VeloVeritas Years – 2007: Stuart O’Grady Tops Career with Paris-Roubaix

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HomeOtherThe VeloVeritas YearsThe VeloVeritas Years - 2007: Stuart O'Grady Tops Career with Paris-Roubaix

A decade?  Surely not? But it was 2007 when we met up with Dave Chapman in London and VeloVeritas headed for the ferry to the ‘Hell of the North‘, where we witnessed Stuart O’Grady take the line first in the velodrome.

Most of the names we mention have gone from the peloton – Flecha, Boonen, Cancellara, Stuey, Backstedt – but Pippo just keeps going, looking little different from how he did on the sunny Sunday, 10 years ago.

This April, will it be GVA again? Or will Sagan take the one he must surely desire above most others? Maybe big Sep Vanmarcke will come good at last?

In the meantime, have a wee wander down memory lane with us we continue our ‘Best of VeloVeritas‘ Years in The Saddle.

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This article first ran on 15th April, 2007

We’re at Paris – Roubaix and it’s more like July in San Trop than spring in Northern France.

We’re in Wallers to take-in cobble sectors 19 and 17, both of which are on the outskirts of the village but at different ends, we had thought about watching at sector 18, Arenberg, but half of France has the same idea, it’s heaving, and we have to get up to the finish “soon-as” after we’ve cobble-watched.

Stuart O'Grady
We enjoy the peace before the (dust) storm. Photo©Martin Williamson

We decided not to go to the start; too much crush, too much traffic and besides, we had to track down a can of tyre repair foam (we had a puncture with the Audi yesterday and we’ve no spare now).

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La Voix du Nord has Cancellara and Boonen rated on five stars for today; Hoste, De Pete, Flecha, Gusev, Ballan and Pozatto on four. Photo©Martin Williamson

Sector 19 runs through the maize fields, if you keep your eyes off the horizon, it’s a rural idyl. If you scan-out to the distance though, there are cone-shaped hills, covered with grass and trees. Only these aren’t hills, they are mine spoil heaps, ‘bings’ as we call them in Scotland.

Stuart O'Grady
Like many other places, the coal industry is gone but not forgotten. It certainly defines the area around Wallers. Photo©Martin Williamson

When you sink shafts down into the earth, then run the ‘roads’ out to where the ‘black gold’ is, there’s an awful lot of drilled and blasted rock to dispose of; hence the bings. There are four within a couple of kilometres of where we stand.

It’s a long time since coal came out of the ground here, but the mine winding towers at Arenberg still stand tall over to our right.

The publicity caravan has started to come through; there’s hardly a breath of wind and it’s stiflingly hot. The dust off the cars is choking, it will be terrible in the bunch.

Stuart O'Grady
The dust off the cars is choking. Photo©Martin Williamson

The speed was high early-on up those long, tree-lined avenues, but eventually a big group got clear; that’s only the early hands of the poker game though.

Stuart O'Grady
Bert Grabsch (Milram & Germany) off the front and the first to arrive. Photo©Martin Williamson

Grabsch (Milram & Germany) is 1-25 clear of the big break of around 30, with QuickStep well represented. The air is heavy with brown dust and the coureurs look more like miners who have just come-up to the pit head, than the tanned, sleek young atletes that they are.

Stuart O'Grady
The CSC-driven bunch. Photo©Martin Williamson

It’s three minutes plus back to the CSC-driven bunch but Tom is right up there and bright-eyed. Top ten rider from last year, Bert Roesems (Lotto & Belgium) is way-back the group and Ghent Wevelgem winner, Marcus Burghardt (T-Mobile & Germany) is stone-last in the string, but he’s been on the deck – his sparkling white tape is all torn.

There are still riders passing after 17 minutes and there’s Matt White’s (Discovery & Australia) bike on the sag wagon; Russian race-favourite, Gusev has lost a strong team mate.

Stuart O'Grady
We spot Matt White’s bike on the wagon after Sector 19. Photo©Martin Williamson

We try to catch sector 17 but the race is too fast for us and we miss the leaders. In the bunch, approaching the final hour it’s getting ‘for real’ as Lotto put the hammer down; Hoste was de-classed last year and will want his revenge.

A long walk back to the car, head for the motorway and the drive to Roubaix. Sector 13 of cobbles runs alongside the motorway and there’s a traffic jam as cars are abandoned wily-nily on the hard shoulder to watch the race.

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There we were just driving along, and the Paris-Roubaix break rode over the motorway above us. Photo©Martin Williamson

Yet again it makes you wonder what you have to do to attract the attention of the traffic police on French or Belgian roads.

It’s a bit of a production getting to the velodrome, even with our ‘Press’ sticker on the car, but eventually we get there, abandon the Audi and head for the sun-drenched track centre.

The big screen is in full-flow, but it’s hard to get a handle on the action as the coverage switchs from group to group. Tour de France “speaker’, Daniel Mangeas provides the commentary, but it’s at auctioneer speed and difficult to pick-up if you’re not a local.

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We beat the race to the Roubaix velodrome, and pitch up in the press area to watch the finale on the big screen. Photo©Martin Williamson

One thing we do know for sure is that Stuart O’Grady is ‘en seulle’ at the head of affairs, riding like one of the greats – flying over the sets, making it look simple. It’s very fluid behind, but the jist of it is that the early-break, which I described as, ‘the early hands of the game’ is, in fact, ‘the play of the day’.

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Not much sitting-room left in the bleachers at the Andre Petrieux velodrome. Photo©Martin Williamson

That group of 30 provided most of the top placings – Stuart O’Grady was in the break, punctured out of it but got back to forge-ahead and win in great style.

Of the bunch, only a late-charging Boonen made any headway, just failing to catch the Flecha group which sprinted for second. The smiling, Argentinean-born Rabobank rider further underlined that Spain is now a major player in the classics. In the last year, Fleche, Liege, Zurich, HEW, San Sebastian and San Remo have all gone to riders from the Iberian peninsula.

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Flecha was pretty happy with 2nd place. Photo©Martin Williamson

Flecha beat fellow early-break members Wesemann, Leukemans and Petito to the line with Boonen just failing to drag himself, Hammond and Franzoi into contention for a podium place sprint.

The good weather has played a huge part in the evolution of this race and also in Wednesday’s Ghent-Wevelgem. The lack of the rain which many riders hate, and more particularly wind, which means there are no echelons and less chance of splits, results in less factors to split the race.

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Wesemann’s sweating face 15 minutes after finishing showed the effort. Photo©Ed Hood

With fewer riders wasted, there’s very little difference in speed between break and bunch. All that said, both races produced good racing and worthy podium finishers.

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Hinault lays flowers at Stuart O’Grady’ sfeet! Photo©Martin Williamson

The track centre at Roubaix was a great experience – Stuart O’Grady in tears of joy;

Rare Bjarne Riis smiles;

Flecha happy to talk to every one about his excellent result;

Wesemann proving a point to his old masters at T-Mobile;

Backstedt philosophical;

Boonen’s dad not making much of a job of hiding his disappointment – it was all there.

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Pozzato’s ‘motor’ wasn’t firing on all cylinders today, and he ended up 35th at over 8 minutes down. Photo©Ed Hood
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Le Permanence – Salle de Presse. Photo©Martin Williamson

But there are pictures to email and copy to write; tomorrow it will all sink-in properly. Meanwhile, it’s motorway, Calais, Ibis, Ferry, and back to reality tomorrow.