Fabian Cancellara (Trek) took his 12th consecutive podium in a monument (among those he has finished) when he took third in today's Paris-Roubaix but after entering the race as the major favourite, he left the race slightly disappointed. With bad luck taking out many of his teammates, he found himself isolated in the finale and as he also had to fight against a strong headwind and "funny" legs, he came up short against the might of Omega Pharma-Quick Step.

Once again it came down to the final cobblestone sectors, and despite a ferocious attack by Fabian Cancellara and Sep Vanmarcke [Belkin] to bridge across to leader Peter Sagan [Cannondale] on the critical Carrefour de l’Arbre sector, with eight kilometers to go - and all decisive pavé completed - it was a group of 10 that emerged intact.

Niki Terpstra [Omega Pharma Quick Step] launched the winning attack from this group with six kilometers to go, and with two other Omega Pharma-QuickStep teammates in the leading group there was no reaction from the others. He steadily gained time and won with 20 seconds in hand. The remaining nine riders entered the Roubaix track together to sprint for the last podium places, and it was John Degenkolb (Giant-Shimano) taking second just ahead of Cancellara.

“It was a special race; very tactical. Vanmarcke and I tried from the back but QuickStep did a good job,” explained Cancellara about the tactics at the end of the race. “They played it well. People were expecting my attack on the cobbles, but I had 'funny' legs the whole time today. It was a hard finish, and it was tough with me being alone at the end, and other teams still had two riders. I think I had no other choice.

“It was normal that there was not a huge collaboration when I went away with the four others after Carrefour de l’Arbre. I tried, Vanmarcke tried, Degenkolb tried, but of course QuickStep played their cards, and with their tactics in the end, the strongest team has won.”

It was a tough luck day for Trek Factory Racing as Hayden Roulston crashed causing Cancellara, who was following his wheel, to go down as well. Prior to this Gregory Rast had a slow puncture, and the low pressure in his tire caused him to tumble in the cobbles of Arenberg Forest.

“First the wind was important and probably altered the race, and then the crash with Hayden [Roulston] where I had to change the bike,” continued Cancellara. “But that is how it is, Roubaix is like this. I am quite tired. I am somewhat disappointed, but in the end, I have to be realistic.  To still arrive on the podium, and under the circumstances that we went through today, I have to be satisfied.

"I made the same mistake as at Harelbeke, I waited too long to change the bike and when I did, it had the wrong tyre pressure, but that's not an excuse. I spent a lot of energy getting back on after changing bikes. And Roubaix is a race where you can never spend too much energy because you'll be missing it in the end."

In the final 30 kilometers Jasper Stuyven was the only teammate left with Cancellara and he did a monstrous job to lessen the gap to the Tom Boonen-led breakaway.

“There was no panic when Boonen attacked,” added Cancellara. “It was still far to go, and it was a lot of headwind, and still a lot of riders in the peloton. I knew that I had to wait still, and I did not have so many cards to play anymore. When there are still 20-30 riders, and with the headwind, it was not the moment to try.

"I knew there was still a long way to go and I knew Omega were playing their cards. I knew the team usually thought about Tom and less about the others, but today I thought they might play it like that.

"With the headwind and the situation after the Carrefour, it's normal that nobody wanted to go from distance to the end and there weren't other opportunities to attack.

"QuickStep had more riders, so what could I do? And Degenkolb had his man [Bert De Backer] in the group. Clearly it was up to him, I wasn't going to pull and then have the others beat me in the sprint."

Despite Cancellara and Sep Vanmarcke attacking in the final, hard cobble sectors they could not shake the other favorites, and in the end there was little Cancellara could do as Niki Terpstra rode away to the victory.

“All in all I am proud,” said Cancellara. “I was a big favorite, and that makes it more difficult. But I have finished on the podium in the last 12 Monuments, and I can say that I am happy with my spring campaign. I get measured on my wins, and not second or third, but really this is not bad. Now it is time for a nice rest.

"Honestly, I race for winning, not arriving for second or third, but on the end I'm realistic. When I put everything on the table and analyse afterwards this race, it was quite a strange race with a lot of headwind, crashes and not so much luck from our side on the team.

"To get on the podium and finish second in the group sprint to Degenkolb, it's not bad. Third again here. In the end that has a great value, too, because I could only lose today and that's very hard to manage."

Director Dirk Demol summed up the day for the team, explaining that the third place was a very good result with all that happened in the race today:

“It was a pity today that [Stijn] Devolder was not here because we missed the extra strong guy in the final to win the race. But to be honest third is huge for Fabian in these circumstances. We took our responsibility in the race from the beginning, then we lost Gregy [Rast] in the forest with a bike change, then Popo [Popovych] crashed, then Hayden and Fabian in the next section. This all cost us a lot of power to come back. I have to say the team did great, and third place was probably the highest possible today."

“We have the freedom thanks to our sponsor, Trek, and to Luca Guercilena that we have “carte blanche” in how we race in the Classics,” added Demol. “This shows in what we have done. We go home with second place in Sanremo, we won Flanders, and today we were third. I am a happy man.”