What's really interesting is that Boonen and his group rode around the barriers. After the train had gone thru. BUT a barrier is a barrier and a rule is a rule. So they should have been disqaulified also.
Rob Dayton
Charlotte,NC
USA
Classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
> I tuned it near the end and only saw a replay of Hincapie's
> incident, but it wasn't clear to me if the fork broke, or the
> stem, or the stem just came loose from the steerer. But I imagine
> broken forks and stems, even classic ones, are not uncommon in the
> history of Paris-Roubais.
>
> What may be more memorable is the disqualification of the 2nd
> through 4th finishers, two of them Discovery Channel, for riding
> around the barriers at a rail crossing. The cynic in me can't
> help but wonder if two French riders on a French team would have
> received the same penalty. Also interesting that this meant Tom
> Boonen, who thought he had won the sprint for 5th, instead found
> himself in 2nd. If those extra points should make him ProTour (or
> whatever it is this year) winner at the end of the season, then
> this would no doubt be debated over beers for years to come.
>
> To inject at least some classic content, I believe P-R has
> always had railway crossings and I doubt they ever had the clout
> to stop the trains running for the race. So was it alway
> forbidden to ride around the barriers? Were any big names in the
> classic era disqualified for this offense? Was a winner ever so
> disqualified? Perhaps a question for Aldo.
>
> Regards,
>
> Jerry Moos
> Big Spring, TX
>
>
>
>
>
> Julian Shapiro <julians@optonline.net> wrote:
> A little detail from a cyclingnews.com interview with Trek on
> Hincapie's bike at Paris-Roubaix:
>
> Scott Daubert: One thing I forgot to tell you about is that George
> is running with a different fork; it has a longer axle to crown
> dimension, and it has a longer rake than the normal Bontrager Race
> Lite fork.
>
> CN: Is this something new you'll bring into the Trek line?
>
> SD: No, it's actually from Bontrager's Satellite line, almost from
> their commuter level, but it has dimensions that are appropriate
> for Roubaix. It's an in-house made fork, made at Trek from OCLV
> carbon, it's just on a different model bike.
>
> CN: Is it a steel steerer?
>
> SD: No, it's aluminium; it's been blasted then anodized black.
>
>
>
> Julian (hmmm.....) Shapiro
>
> Sag Harbor, NY