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BBC Sport – Tom Boonen wins Paris-Roubaix for record equalling fourth time.
Belgian Tom Boonen became only the second rider to win the Paris-Roubaix classic for the fourth time.

The 31-year-old made his break with 35 miles to go on Sunday, finishing one minute and 39 seconds ahead of Sebastien Turgot of France.

He said: “When I was alone in front, I just went for it. It’s my greatest (Paris-Roubaix) win.”

Boonen equals the record for the most victories in the race set by compatriot Roger de Vlaeminck in the 1970s.

Analysis

Matt Slater

BBC sports news reporter

Boonen, after a few duff years, is having a blinder. He was already having a good start to 2012 when he won another of cycling’s “monuments”, the Tour of Flanders, last week. This lifts his tally for the year into the realms of spectacular. He is probably now the greatest threat to Mark Cavendish winning the Olympic road race.

The 2005 world champion was alone as he crossed the finish line after 160 miles in arguably the toughest one-day race in cycling, before five chasing riders had even reached the velodrome in the northern French town of Roubaix.

“I think today was one of the best days in my career. Normally I have to use my sprint in races like this and it is always much safer to save some energy for the finish,” he said.

“If you put everything into the break and you get caught then you will be in trouble.

“But being a little bit older I tried not to panic and pushed it as hard as I could. It was a little bit crazy. It is not something I often do, but I think today was the perfect day to take a risk.

“I just thought, I already have Flanders, so why not try to get a fourth Paris-Roubaix as well.

“With the wind it was not easy, and I might have been in trouble if a rider like Filippo Pozzato had been able to catch me coming into the Carrefour de l’Arbre, but once I had a minute’s lead I realised that I could do it.”

Italian Alessandro Ballan was third while Juan Antonio Flecha was the leading rider for Team Sky, coming home in fourth place.

Vittoria

So it’s off to hell this month for the classic French race, Paris-Roubaix. My thoughts are now fully focused on getting my body ready for battle. And not too far away are the thoughts of ‘is my weapon as sharp as it needs to be to beat the cobble-demons’? The answer is no of course, so I’ve been reading my demon defense manual and the best tools for the job seem to be these puppies. http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=51235 At close to £50 a pop, I’m thinking are they worth it? The reviews are mostly glorious sounds of Angel praise but are they the all encompassing halos we saints require for the raging battle that is about to commence? I’m not sure yet, I’ll park this tool for now and see what else is up for the task.

by SketchBookPro

If you like art and bikes, then this little time lapse video of someone drawing a girl in a bike shop fixing a bike is going to be a good watch.

Watch “SketchBook Pro Tutorial by Asuka111 – Bike Craft” on YouTube

This is a shot of the insides, these lights require two of these per light, so replacing these won’t be cheap. After all they were free in the first place and I’m pretty sure that Decathlon sell this type of battery at a reasonable price.

I know for a fact that not everyone managed to get themselves a free pair, and the exercise cost some folk a little more than they bargained for. A friend of mine said he was one of the first people to arrive at the designated location. And after a long and excited wait, the place he was standing became the back of the que. To top it off there weren’t enough to go round and so he lost out. To add insult to injury as they say. On his bike home he got stopped by the police and was fined for not having lights. Can you believe it. Super sorry Beliva we hope you get a free pair next time round.

Thank you Blackburn for these loverly lights.

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