For Lieuwe Westra, the 'Hell of the North' turned into a hellish race. Due to several crashes, the Dutchman had to withdraw from the World Tour classic in which his Astana teammate Lars Boom finished fourth.

"Between 150 and 100km to go, it went completely wrong," he told his personal website. "It was already annoying to crash twice but the third time I hit the deck so hard that my race was over. It annoys me to abanden, especially because I left the Vuelta al Pais Vasco and skipped the time trial to be ready for Roubaix. And then this happens...

"When I got of my bed on Monday morning, my whole body was completely stiff. It could have been much worse because if you crash on cobblestones, the chances that you break something are big. Fortunately, my participation in the Amstel Gold Race is not in danger. I cannot wait to get my new bike so that I can so for a new ride."

Despite the off-day, Westra is ready for more cobbles.

"On Thursday I will fly to Northern France with Nibali, Grivko, Boom and Gruzdev to look at the cobbles of the Tour. I'm going to test it again!"