Paris-Roubaix was a frustrating day for Vacansoleil-DCM rider Bjorn Leukemans, who was clearly one of the stronger competitors and who was jostling with Fabian Cancellara (Leopard Trek) and Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervélo) at certain points of the race. He was ultimately listed as a non-finisher, but that statistic in itself is misleading.
“I was very strong but I had no luck at all. Three crashes, three times behind the crash, and three punctures, so…it was unbelievable,” he told VeloNation’s Ben Atkins shortly after the finish.
Leukemans was sitting slumped on the grass of the Roubaix Velodrome for several minutes, covered in dust and getting his composure back. Like many of the riders, he was shattered by a very hard race. He was also a little deflated by what happened, and the thoughts of what might have been. Sixth in 2010, he had hoped to fight for the win this time round.
“It was sometimes on the cobbles, but my first crash was [after] Arenberg, I was in the first group; I don’t know how it happened, someone just crashed in front of me,” he said. “Some guys really can’t ride a bike, it’s unbelievable. They take risks for nothing and then they crash, and yeah…it was stupid.”
“I had a very good day, but I just didn’t have any luck,” he said, with regret.
Another who ended the day frustrated with things was the Omega Pharma Lotto rider André Greipel. He bridged across to the leading group 155 kilometres into the race, and had the goal of helping out a team-mate. Things didn’t go great for him on a personal level, though.
“We were working for Jürgen [Roelandts] and then I blew up,” he told Ben Atkins. “I could recover afterwards a little bit. I could stay with the group of Cancellara and then before Carrefour de l’Arbre I had a puncture so my race was finished.”
Many riders had stories to tell about crashes or mechanical issues. Even the winner Johan Van Summeren wasn’t immune; he revealed after the race that he had ridden the final five kilometres with a puncture. Like Abraham Olano in the 1995 world road race championships, he had to push onwards on the deflated tubular and pray that the tyre would stay in place until he got to the line.