This Sunday, April 8th, while millions of people worldwide continue their observation of Passover and rejoice in the celebration of Easter, professional cycling will once again undertake its annual descent into Hell, better known as the cobblestoned Classic, Paris-Roubaix.

Defined by its traditional twenty-seven sectors of pavé, which are spread out over 257.5 kilometers of terrain that was once pockmarked by the scourges of war, l'enfer du nord is a veritable meat grinder of both man and machine.

It is one of the few races on the calendar where its survivors finishers, are lauded as champions and its winner is elevated to legendary status.

Defending champion, Johan van Summeren (Garmin-Barracuda) returns, but he will be hard-pressed to claim back-to-back titles as he may only be Garmin-Barracuda's third best option.

Young Belgian compatriot and teammate, Sep Vanmarcke, who won this year's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and rode strongly in the Ronde van Vlaanderen, will certainly be a marked man along with American Tyler Farrar.

Another squad that boast multiple contenders and will undoubtedly be heard from on Sunday is BMC Racing.

Labelled as a Classics super team because of their off-season acquisitions, the team has unfortunately underperformed during the early part of this season. But with a strong team showing last weekend at Flanders that was capped off by Alessandro Ballan's third place finish , BMC Racing now looks to be rounding into the juggernaut everyone had envisioned.

In addition to Ballan, BMC's hopes to lift the winner's cobblestone lie with former World Champion, Thor Hushovd, George Hincapie, former U-23 Roubaix winner Taylor Phinney, and Manuel Quinziato.

When all is said and done; however, the list of contenders may begin and end with one name, Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma - Quick-Step).

Wins at Qatar, Paris-Nice, Gent-Wevelgem, E3 Prijs Vlaanderen and Flanders, have all but signaled Boonen's rebirth to the dominant form that earned him the rare Ronde/Roubaix double in 2005.

He is unquestionably the odds-on favorite to go through Hell unscathed, and on the day that celebrates rebirth, it would be more than fitting for him to do so.

Tom Boonen Addresses Media

Tom Boonen spoke at a press conference at the Kennedy Hotel in Kortrijk on Friday. The Specialized bicycle he will use to race in Paris-Roubaix was at the event, and Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team also announced the selection for the race on Sunday.

Boonen and the team performed course reconnaissance on Friday morning, to examine the course, but to also test the set-up of his Specialized Roubaix bicycle.

"It's always good to test the material, the last set up before the race," Boonen said. "Everything was OK with it. I am in good shape, and the recon was good. The bikes and Zipp wheels are perfect. I also checked my spare bike in case of anything."

The media asked Boonen about being the favorite, having won three Paris-Roubaix already.

"Maybe I am one of the favorites, but I am not the only one," Boonen said. "Pozzato and Ballan showed at Ronde van Vlaanderen they are in great condition. Both are very, very good at the moment. I am a little more explosive than them, but you never know in a race like that. It's always complicated. It is also not only Pozzato, Ballan, or a rider like Van Summeren. It's also other guys, for example Flecha, Eisel, or Hushovd. In the Spring Classics, I think Hushovd wants to show something."

However, Boonen knows he has a strong team around him going into Sunday's race.

"The guys that are here are really motivated," Boonen said. "They're in really good shape. We are ready to fight and do a good race. I know I can count on a big team effort, with a big loop around me."

There was speculation whether rain could affect the race conditions — particularly the cobbled sections of Paris-Roubaix.

"It's not important whether it's rain or dry," Boonen said. "For me, it's the same. I know we have to fight in any case. It's not the weather conditions that have ever given me problems."

Boonen, who has had a record making and breaking season thus far, acknowledged that another record is possible if he crosses the line victorious on Sunday.

"The record, if I say I am not interested to win Roubaix four times, I am lying," Boonen said. "We will see. I am always motivated for his race, but for sure this gives me a little extra motivation."

Roster for Paris-Roubaix:
Tom Boonen (BEL)
Sylvain Chavanel (FRA)
Iljo Keisse (BEL)
Gert Steegmans (BEL)
Niki Terpstra (NED)
Matteo Trentin (ITA)
Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (BEL)
Stijn Vandenbergh (BEL)

Sports Directors for Paris-Roubaix:
Wilfried Peeters (BEL)
Tom Steels (BEL)
Rik van Slycke (BEL)

Photos: OPQS / Tim de Waele

Special Moment for 'Picture of the Ronde' Fan

Tom Boonen's press conference about his Ronde van Vlaanderen victory on Sunday, as well as his thoughts about Paris-Roubaix next weekend, began with a special moment.

The team invited 11-year-old fan Tjorven to the press conference. Tjorven was the young fan, caught by TV cameras in an Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team kit, on his knees in pure elation following the victory of Boonen at Ronde van Vlaanderen. The TV image was then discovered on Twitter, and the Omega Pharma - Quick-Step Cycling Team Twitter account @opqscyclingteam promoted the image with the words "Wow. We are speechless." Just days later, on Tuesday, Boonen greeted the young fan at the speakers table before the conference began.

"It was an emotional moment when I saw this guy celebrating my victory," Boonen said of the image he was shown of Tjorven on Sunday after his win. "We had a quick chat together and the boy was really happy about it, as was I."

Boonen provided Tjorven with a team feed bag filled with gifts. Two of those gifts were a T-shirt and wristband with the words "I 'Like' #OPQS," and the team logo on the sleeve. The boy, who was excited to meet Boonen, gave Tom one of his own team cycling jerseys, a small rider action figure with a painted team jersey on it, and a small medallion with Saint Christoper, the patron saint of travelers.

"I put it in my pocket and told him I will keep it with me for the future," Boonen said.

Following the meeting with the rider and his young fan, Boonen addressed the press about what he has done since his victory at Ronde van Vlaanderen.

"On Sunday evening it was a normal evening at home," Boonen said. "I arrived at home, drank a good glass of wine with my family and that was all. I went to bed immediately. I was really tired. On Monday, I didn't really have a lot of time to enjoy my victory. It's unbelievable. In cycling you have to turn the page immediately, and next weekend is Paris-Roubaix. I basically tried to recover as well as possible at that point. I slept a lot. I did two hours on the bike yesterday, and two hours today. But for the rest of the time, I will still try to enjoy life at home."

Boonen said, despite the brief time period between Ronde van Vlaanderen and Paris-Roubaix, he still has enough time to acknowledge the importance of his victory.

"We are here already talking about Paris-Roubaix, but I have to say for me it was really important to win Ronde van Vlaanderen, as it was the first time on the new parcours," Boone said. "For me, it's really a privilege. I am really happy to have won and to have shown I am able to win a different race."

As for his feeling about winning Ronde van Vlaanderen for a third time, Boonen admitted the feeling did not compare to the first victory.

"I am super happy for me and the team," Boonen said. "But when I compare this happiness with the happiness for the victory I had the first time, it isn't the same. That was really a great moment and that feeling is something that has never come back."

Boonen then moved on to discussion about Paris-Roubaix — and 205.1km Scheldeprijs, which takes place on Wednesday, April 4.

"The race of tomorrow is an important race, and I am happy to be at the start," Boonen said. "Tomorrow I will try to work for other guys on the team. Francesco Chicchi, for example, can have his chance tomorrow in the race. For the rest of the week, starting tomorrow evening, I will start thinking about Paris-Roubaix. This year seems to be the year of the record, but Paris-Roubaix is really a difficult race, so anything can happen. We will see. There are a lot of competitors, Pozzato and Ballan. They showed they are in good condition."

Boonen will be ready to race on Sunday, despite how chaotic this week can often be for riders.

"I am still really motivated," Boonen said. "Mentally I have no problem. I want to ride a good race on Sunday. I work a lot to be competitive at this period of the season so I really want to try to do my best even on Sunday and fight for the victory. I don't know if I will make the recon or not on Friday. The parcours is still the same and I have pretty good experience with it. It will depend a little on my recovery and maybe I will take a little more rest to spend a little bit more time at home in the next days."

Roster for Scheldeprijs (BEL) 1.HC (205.1 km)

Marco Bandiera (ITA)
Tom Boonen (BEL)
Francesco Chicchi (ITA)
Nikolas Maes (BEL)
Gert Steegmans (BEL)
Matteo Trentin (ITA)
Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (BEL)
Stijn Vandenbergh (BEL)
Wilfried Peeters (BEL) - Sports Director

Photos: OPQS / Photonews

Ever since Team Garmin-Cervélo was presented, expectations for not only a successful, but a dominant Spring Classics season began. To date, the team has failed to produce a victor in any of these races; either being caught "out" as in Flanders last Sunday, or caught "up" as they were in the finale of Scheldeprijs midweek.

But with the Queen of the Classics this Sunday, the team remained supremely confident in their riders and of their chances.

“The team is incredibly motivated for Sunday, stated Director Sportif, Jonathan Vaughters. "We did a course recon yesterday and everyone seemed to be feeling good. No matter what happens, you can bet that Garmin-Cervelo will race their hearts out. The motivation is there, the heart is there, the work is done. Now we race.”

Added Thor Hushovd, “For me, Paris-Roubaix is the most beautiful race in the world. As a sportsman you have many goals, my goal is Paris-Roubaix. To race Paris-Roubaix in the rainbow jersey is a great honor and I will give everything I have to honor the jersey and my team. The competition is strong but so are we. We’re all looking forward to Sunday.”

“I'm finally starting to feel healthy. I have had a very difficult spring with this unseasonably warm weather aggravating my allergies far more than usual. I am really looking forward to the weekend," echoed Roger Hammond. "It is my favorite race and I look forward to it all year round so I will try with everything I have for the team. All I hope is there will be a cobble stone on our bus Sunday evening!”

2011 Paris-Roubaix Roster
Tyler Farrar
Roger Hammond
Heinrich Haussler
Thor Hushovd
Andreas Klier
Gabriel Rasch
Sep Vanmarcke
Johan Van Summeren

The 2011 edition of the Paris Roubaix will take place on Sunday, April 10, on an hard route of 258 km with 51,5 km of cobblestones.

On Friday, Quick-Step Cycling Team did a reconnaissance ride on the route for the "northern hell".

"We pedaled for about 2 and a half hours" explains Sporting Director Wilfried Peeters "from Arenberg to the cobblestone sector in Cysoing à Bourghelles. The recon ride was preceded by a car recon on the cobblestones sectors that come before the Arenberg forest. The team is ready. Boonen and Chavanel are a guarantee in these kind of races. Sunday will be a fast race. The cobblestone we saw today in recon is very fast. It's going to be quite a show."

“After today's evaluation of the route I feel a bit more confident about the shape I'm in after Wednesday's fall." Boonen says "Of course, it would have been better had I not fallen. I still have some aches and pains but there are still two days left to get back to 100%. Sunday will be another battle but our team is ready. We have some great riders on the team and we can count on an outstanding Chavanel; after what he did on Sunday in the Ronde he's become a race favorite. There's plenty of competition. I'd put Cancellara a little bit above the rest, but there are at least 8 riders who could win it. We're going to do our best to give the team a prestigious win."

"I'm in great shape" says Chavanel "I hope to ride the best race possible, like I did last Sunday. Tom and I are a dynamic duo, the team is strong. It'll be important to take on the Arenberg forest out front. The new cobblestone section after the forest will make it hard to recuperate. We'll have to be careful, that's where the real race will start."

Paris-Roubaix Roster
Marco Bandiera (ITA)
Tom Boonen (BEL)
Sylvain Chavanel (FRA)
Gerald Ciolek (GER)
Andreas Stauff (GER)
Gert Steegmans (BEL)
Kevin Van Impe (BEL)
Guillaume Van Keirsbulck (BEL)
Wilfried Peeters (BEL) - Sports Director

Photo: AP/Yves Logghe

Dominant, overpowering, superior, controlling, assertive, authoritative, commanding, powerful, supreme, transcendent. Somewhere Saul Bellow is smiling, as the use of a single superlative simply fails to accurately capture Fabian Cancellara's performance this past Sunday, and for that matter this past week.

On a day usually referred to as "A Sunday In Hell," the current Ronde van Vlaanderen champion tamed the Roubaix cobbles and made it look more like a Sunday ride in the park.

Instinctively attacking his most powerful adversary, Tom Boonen (Quick Step), who had momentarily paused from his own relentless attacking, within 50kms of the finish line, Cancellara's move was so utterly demonstrative that the outcome of the race was decided in a few pedal strokes.

With front end bouncing like a hydraulically enhanced low-rider and a chain bobbing unbridled as if trying to wrestle itself free from the rest of his Specialized machine, the 29-year Swiss rider cruised solo to his second Paris-Roubaix victory, and in the process completed the rare Spring Classics double.

Thor Hushovd (Cervelo Test Team) and Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky Professional Cycling Team) were the best of the rest, breaking away late from a tired and dwindling elite group of riders.

Results
1. Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank
2. Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team
3. Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Sky Professional Cycling Team

Extraordinary Times

Fans of the one-day Classics are truly living in extraordinary times. In 2008, coincidentally after Tom Boonen's second Roubaix victory, I remarked that cycling was entering a new "Golden Age." With trio of riders, Cancellara, Boonen and Ballan, under the age of 30, Classics fans were sure to be treated to greatness for some time to come. And with the exception of Ballan, who has been slowed by some injuries, Boonen and Cancellara have not disappointed. Both are now part of select group of 27 riders who have won more than 3 of the 5 monuments of cycling.

Like most cycling fans of a certain age, I often wonder what it was like when the legends like Merckx, De Vlaeminck, Van Looy, Moser, and Kelly once ruled the Classics planet. But unless you are irreparably nostalgic, cycling legends — perhaps soon to go down in the history books as "the greatest" — are currently riding, and winning, right under your noses.

Other Notables
4. Roger Hammond (GBr) Cervelo Test Team
5. Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step
7. Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Team Katusha
8. Leif Hoste (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
10. Hayden Roulston (NZl) Team HTC - Columbia
26. Michael Barry (Can) Sky Professional Cycling Team
29. George Hincapie (USA) Bmc Racing Team
33. Dominique Rollin (Can) Cervelo Test Team
42. Stijn Devolder (Bel) Quick Step
48. Bjorn Selander (USA) Team RadioShack
63. Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo

Photo: REUTERS/Francois Lenoir

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Tornado Tom Boonen's victory at Paris-Roubaix before the week ended. We wouldn't be much of a cycling site if we didn't.

Perhaps our lack of mentioning his win this past Sunday is a product of his seeming dominance in the northern Spring Classics. His favorite status has many of us in the cycling world expecting him to win. But the fact is, this was only Boonen's second victory at the Hell of the North. [I say "only" not to diminish what an accomplishment it is to win even one P-R, but because it really does seem as if he practically owns the cobbled races].

Nonetheless, it is quite an accomplishment for the 27-year-old, which is made even more impressive given the media scrutiny he constantly faces.

"Sometimes I simply don't get it why particular journalists keep on trying to focus on the bad things and leave the good things aside. I was a very young rider when I sort of appeared from nowhere and everyone in the press was happy about my efforts and results. However, when things go not according to plan, they try and write you down."

The price of stardom, I guess?

For fans of the Spring Classics, it looks as if we may be in the midst of the type of Classics "golden age" when men like [Eddy] Merckx, [Francesco] Moser, and [Roger] De Vlaeminck battled on the cobbles. Sunday's podium resemblance to that of 2006, with Boonen (age 27), Fabian Cancellara (age 27), and Alessandro Ballan (age 28) on it, looks to be the harbinger of titanic tooth-and-nail clashes for years to come.

Photo: Leonard Basobas

The photo below has been circling the internet like a viral video. I've got no reason to doubt its authenticity, as the reality of the matter really does outweigh any reason for wanting to manufacture it.

So say you're taking part in a one day Classic and while traversing over 224km you suddenly have an urge, or rather the urge. What do you do?

As one caption stated, "rockin the dookie drawers," oh no you didn't? Another reason to have black bibs.

Tornado squishing around the Roubaix velodrome

When you (and your wife) look that good, how can you complain?

Team or a Group of Individuals?
I read one of the letters to the editor on Velonews the other day admonishing Hoste and Gusev of Discovery Channel for not stopping and attending to George Hincapie when he crashed. The writer stated that if it had been Armstrong at the Tour, every single teammate would have stopped and offered help or a bike. Yes that's true, but this person has missed the boat on this situation and one has to wonder about his level of experience in following the sport. There is no yellow jersey etiquette in the one day classics, where the leaders slow down if the strongest of them has a crash or a mechanical. It's the opposite in the classics, and why it makes them, well, classic. The mentality is that if you are the strongest then you wouldn't have crashed. Do you really have to wonder why Tom Boonen put down the hammer immediately after seeing Hincapie go down?

The train boss, the train...
I've read all the explanations and all the arguments regarding the train situation that occured during the P-R this weekend. Some say it was a strict interpretation of the UCI law, but one has to wonder why the group who was delayed and then passed through those same closed gates weren't disqualified as well. Strict interpretation or liberal adjudication?

A 1000 Words
Once in a while a sports photographer happens to capture a moment which speaks to the humanity in all of us. For those who are deemed physically (and mentally) elite, there is easily a disconnect from those of us who are not. These photos make us realize that we are all part of the same species regardless of our physical accumen. Here's my favorite from this weekend by Graham Watson.

Where in the wide, wide world of sports is...
T-Mobile Pro Cycling Team. Since Erik Zabel's departure, they've been fairly non-existent besides the occasional injury update. If it wasn't for the newly formed T-Mobile Women's Team and wins by Olaf Pollack, the team has little to be proud of in 2006.

Judith Arndt in action

I don't check out Eurosport's fine website as often as I should. If that applies to you as well, the post-Paris-Roubaix coverage is a good place to start.

There's a scrolling feature below the story with links to other coverage. Video from the race is particularly worth seeing; it includes interview with Tom Boonen, his Quick Step team manager, and race winner Fabian Cancellara.

Here's just a little bit of what I learned:
On Boonen's failure to win a second-straight Paris-Roubaix, which would have given him back-to-back Tour of Flanders and P-R successes: "Some people seem to think Tom Boonen has no right to be tired. But there is no shame in being tired. I'm not superman."

On why he lost: "I don't want to look for any excuses, some riders were just better than me."

On the train incident (three riders ahead of Boonen were disqualified for running a train warning): "It was the job of the stewards to stop them. I also would have crossed the barrier."

On his Tour de France plans: "I had to retire from the Tour last year and it's still stuck in my throat. I now dream of winning stages and the green jersey. When I was in the velodrome at the end of the Paris-Roubaix, I was already thinking of the Tour de France."