In their first ever Paris-Roubaix outing the riders of IAM Cycling rode their hardest over the cobblestones of the Hell of the North in a bid to snatch the race away from eventual winner Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Leopard), who succeeded in hauling in his third Paris-Roubaix title. 

Since Paris-Roubaix conditions are never easy, the sunny and relatively warm (12° C) temperatures simply meant that the riders had to contend with voluminous clouds of dust throughout the day.  Heinrich Haussler finished best among his teammates with his 11th place on the day, representing his ninth top 15 finish of the season.  Nevertheless, 11th was far below the Australian’s ability and expectations, and as such his performance represented a disappointment on which he didn’t care to comment. 

His Directeur Sportif, Eddy Seigneur, understood and explained why Haussler would feel this regret after having ridden so well at the Tour of Flanders and Gent-Wevelgem.  “Overall, I am satisfied with the way the guys rode today.  The team played the game perfectly in our attempts to protect Haussler.  And 11th is not a terrible result, though I’m sure Heinrich is disappointed.  We just lacked a bit of strategic manoeuvring when it counted.” 

Behind Haussler, Marco Bandiera (39th), Martin Elmiger (41st) and Sébastien Hinault (42nd) came into the Roubaix velodrome together 3’29” behind the winner.  The Italian Bandiera, his face covered with dust, was pleased to have had his best finish in the race so far. 

“At IAM Cycling, I have really found a great team and with the confidence they have given me, I was able to take my level up a notch.  This is the best result of my career in this race, but now I am dead tired.” 

Martin Elmiger also spoke of the continuous battle and suffering demanded by the race. “There is some disappointment in the team because we fought like lions for a shot at the podium.  We did not have a ton of luck, but that is the law of sport in general and cycling in particular.  We started out with a goal to win the race, and having failed that, we must admit this failure and look to where we can improve.” 

Sébastien Hinault, in his 13th participation, did not let that supposed unlucky number interfere with his thoughts about the race: “No, I’m not superstitious, so it didn’t really even occur to me.  Besides, we were going à bloc the entire time, with no opportunity to recover, let alone think about things like that.  I managed to put in a strong pull for Heinrich before the Mons-en-Pévèle sector, and then I was just happy to make it to the velodrome in Roubaix since I was completely cooked by then.”