| 2006 UCI ProTour, race 7 of 27 | |||||||||||||
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 Official event poster | |||||||||||||
| Race details | |||||||||||||
| Dates | April 9, 2006 | ||||||||||||
| Stages | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Distance | 259 km (160.9 mi) | ||||||||||||
| Winning time | 6h 07' 54" | ||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||
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← 2005 2007 → | |||||||||||||
The2006 Paris–Roubaix was the 104th running of theParis–Roubaix single-day cycling race, often known as theHell of the North. It was held on 9 April 2006 over a distance of 259 kilometres (160.9 miles).Fabian Cancellara became the secondroad racing cyclist fromSwitzerland to win the race. This edition was run under clear skies and relatively good weather, meaning that the difficulty of this edition was the dust. The main favourite for the race wasTom Boonen, winner of the2005 Paris–Roubaix and the2006 Tour of Flanders.
As usual, the selection of favourites was done at theForest of Arenberg after Cancellara andTom Boonen increased the pace. The selection included 17 riders, consisting of:
Most of the riders began to quicken the pace after they realized thatTom Boonen, previous year winner and main favourite, had no teammates in the leading group. A persecution began between the leading group and apeloton led by fiveQuick-Step–Innergetic riders, includingFilippo Pozzato andServais Knaven, trying to assistTom Boonen. With 80 kilometers to go and after almost 20 kilometers of struggling,Quick-Step–Innergetic gave up. In the leading groupJoost Posthuma,Enrico Franzoi,Nicolas Portal andStephan Schreck lost contact with the leading group although Portal would eventually rejoin the lead.
With 45 kilometres to go, while going throughMons-en-Pévèle cobblestone section,George Hincapie's steerer tube broke and he injured his collarbone, forcing him to retire from the race. Soon afterTom Boonen andJuan Antonio Flecha made a series of accelerations that selected the lead group to only eight riders: Alessandro Ballan, Tom Boonen, Fabian Cancellara, Bernhard Eisel, Juan Antonio Flecha, Vladimir Gusev, Leif Hoste and Peter Van Petegem.Vladimir Gusev fell a short time later in a fall that also brought down the ItalianAlessandro Ballan with 25 kilometres to go, although they could make it back to the lead.
With 20 kilometres to go and riding throughCamphin-en Pévèle cobblestones sector,Fabian Cancellara attacked and gained a few metres along withVladimir Gusev over the rest of the leaders. The difference soon increased to 20 seconds when, hittingCarrefour de l'Arbre, Cancellara began a solo effort to Roubaix after Gusev couldn't hold on the pace by the Swiss time-trial specialist. In this same sectorLeif Hoste attacked while Gusev was losing contact with Cancellara.Peter Van Petegem followed him, whileTom Boonen,Juan Antonio Flecha andAlessandro Ballan were close behind them. Hoste and Van Petegem would eventually catch Gusev trying to catch Cancellara, who wouldn't stop increasing his advantage, eventually winning over a minute inRoubaix Velodrome.
Hoste, Van Petegem and Vladimir Gusev were initially credited with 2nd through 4th places (1'23" down), but were later disqualified by the race jury for illegally riding through a closed level-crossing. (This railway crossing should not have been closed and the organizers received criticism because of it.)[1] This promoted world champion and pre-race favourite Boonen into 2nd place.
09-04-2006: Compiègne–Roubaix, 259 km.:
| Cyclist | Team | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Fabian Cancellara (SUI) | Team CSC | 6h 07' 54" |
| DSQ |  Leif Hoste (BEL) | Discovery Channel | + 1' 23" |
| DSQ | Peter Van Petegem (BEL) | Davitamon–Lotto | + 1' 23" |
| DSQ |  Vladimir Gusev (RUS) | Discovery Channel | + 1' 23" |
| 2 | Tom Boonen (BEL) | Quick-Step–Innergetic | + 1' 49" |
| 3 |  Alessandro Ballan (ITA) | Lampre–Fondital | + 1' 49" |
| 4 |  Juan Antonio Flecha (ESP) | Rabobank | + 1' 49" |
| 5 |  Bernhard Eisel (AUT) | Française des Jeux | + 3' 25" |
| 6 | Steffen Wesemann (SUI) | T-Mobile Team | + 5' 35" |
| 7 |  Frédéric Guesdon (FRA) | Française des Jeux | + 6' 31" |
| 8 | Bert Roesems (BEL) | Davitamon–Lotto | + 6' 44" |
| 9 | Christophe Mengin (FRA) | Française des Jeux | + 6' 44" |
| 10 | Staf Scheirlinckx (BEL) | Cofidis | + 6' 45" |
