The 2009 Paris–Roubaix was the 107th running of the

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Cycling monument, Monuments' ...

single-day cycling race, often known as the ''Hell of the North''. It was held on 12 April 2009 over a distance of . The race was won by

Tom Boonen Tom Boonen (; born 15 October 1980) is a Belgian former road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 2002 and 2017 for the and teams and a professional racing driver who currently competes in Belcar, having previously competed in ...

of for the third time, having won the

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

and

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

editions of the race. Boonen finished the race alone, seconds ahead of

Filippo Pozzato Filippo "Pippo" Pozzato (born 10 September 1981) is an Italian former road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2000 and 2018 for the , , , , , , and two spells with the / teams. A cycling classics, northern classics specialist, Pozza ...

Thor Hushovd Thor Hushovd (born 18 January 1978) is a Norwegian former professional road bicycle racer. He is known for sprinting and time trialing; Hushovd is a three-time Norwegian National Road Race Championships, Norwegian national road race champion ( ...

arrived third, to round out the podium. The race was the eighth event in the inaugural

UCI World Ranking The UCI men's road racing world rankings are a points system used to rank men's road cycling riders. Points are awarded based on results in UCI sanctioned races, with points varying widely based on the importance and prestige of the race. The ...

series.

Race summary

Before the race, favourites included

winner

, teammate and

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders () may refer to the following cycle races: * Tour of Flanders (men's race) The Tour of Flanders (), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race held in Belgium every spri ...

winner

Stijn Devolder Stijn Devolder (born 29 August 1979) is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer, who competed professionally for (2002–2003), (2004–2007), (2008–2010), (2011–2012), (2013–2016), (2017–2018) and (2019). Career Born i ...

, Garmin–Slipstream's

Martijn Maaskant Martijn Maaskant (born 27 July 1983) is a retired Dutch professional road racing cyclist. Maaskant competed professionally between 2008 and 2014. Biography Maaskant turned professional with in 2008. Following a six-year stint with the renamed sq ...

, and

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

winner,

Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara (born 18 March 1981), nicknamed "Spartacus", is a Swiss people, Swiss cycling executive, businessman and former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist who last rode for UCI ProTeam . He is known for being a qual ...

. A group of 11 riders formed the early breakaway, but it was caught again with still about 60 kilometres to go. Six riders then eventually broke away from the rest of the peloton:

Juan Antonio Flecha Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (born 17 September 1977) is an Argentina, Argentine-born Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 2000 and 2013. Flecha had a reputation of being a Classic cycle races, C ...

Leif Hoste Leif Hoste (born 17 July 1977) is a retired Belgian professional road racing cyclist, who last rode for UCI Professional Continental Team team . Born in Kortrijk, Hoste's career highlights included winning two stages and the overall title at ...

and

Johan Van Summeren Johan Vansummeren (born 4 February 1981) is a Belgian former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2004 and 2016 for the , , and teams. Biography Vansummeren was born, raised, and resides in Lommel, Flanders, Belgiu ...

. At

Carrefour de l'Arbre Carrefour de l'Arbre, officially Pavé de Luchin, is a 2.1 km Sett (paving), cobbled road in the municipalities of Camphin-en-Pévèle, Baisieux, Baisieux-Sin and Gruson, in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Nord department of Northern France. The lo ...

, about 15 kilometres from the finish, Flecha crashed and took Hoste with him in his fall. Van Summeren and Pozzato were held back which allowed Boonen and Hushovd to break away. However, just a few hundred metres further, Hushovd also crashed and Boonen continued on his own. Pozzato came to within 10 seconds but never managed to close the gap, allowing Boonen to win. Nearly all of the riders featured in the top ten endured at least a minor crash. During the race an official motorcycle crashed into the crowd injuring 16 people, four seriously. Three of the injured were flown by helicopter to hospitals in northern France.

Race summary

Results

The cobblestones

References

External links