Originally not scheduled to race the Paris-Roubaix, Greg Van Avermaet changed his mind after last week's Tour of Flanders. The decision proved to be a wise one as he ended up 4th on a day where pre-race captains Taylor Phinney and Thor Hushovd failed to make their presence felt.

The BMC were by many seen as the strongest squad in today's Paris-Roubaix and with 2010 runner-up Thor Hushovd and double winner of the U23 edition Taylor Phinney at the helm, many expected the American team to pose the greatest threat to pre-race favourite Fabian Cancellara.

When the race entered its crucial phase, the duo was however nowhere to be seen. The sole representative in the decisive 13-man move was Greg Van Avermaet who ended up 4th to save the day for the American team.

With his strength on the climbs, Van Avermaet usually skips the Hell of the North to focus on the more hilly Tour of Flanders and the Ardennes classics. After a strong performance in Flanders, he chose to change his program to benefit maximally from his good condition and he was a late inclusion in the BMC line-up for the race.

"I had a good feeling I could do well here after Flanders," he said. "So it was a good decision to do this race."

Van Avermaet failed to join eventual winner Fabian Cancellara (Radioshack) when the Swiss put down the hammer to close the gap to the front duo of Stijn Vandenbergh (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and Sep Vanmarcke (Blanco). While Stybar was glued to the Swiss' wheel, Van Avermaet was seen struggling on his own just a few meters behind.

According to the Belgian, it was a French rival who took him out of contention.

"(Damien, ed.) Gaudin was in between and he took a corner really bad and lost two meters," he said. "I tried to catch them and came to one meter but couldn't close it. If you're not in the wheel and you are in the wind, you are killing yourself." 

Phinney overexcited

Taylor Phinney had entered the race with great expectations. In his debut last year, he took 15th after having done plenty of work in the front of the peloton early in the race, and with a near-perfect build-up , the American hoped to be in contention.

He put down the hammer on the famous Arenberg pave drawing clear a 2-man group before being swallowed up just before they exited the sector. He looked strong but the effort proved to be a waste of energy, and when Juan Antonio Flecha (Vacansoleil) made the crucial selection on the Mons-en-Pevele sector, the American had no energy left.

"I was maybe feeling a bit too good," he said. "I think I got a bit excited. I never had any bad luck or any crashes. But when I needed to have the big kick to stay with the front group on Mons-en-Pévèle, I didn't have it. That was too bad."

No luck for Hushovd

Hushovd hoped to finally win his dream race after having ended on the podium twice. However, luck is an important factor in the Hell of the North and it was certainly not on the side of the Norwegian in today's race.

"I felt really good but I had to change my bike and it was hard to get back," he said. "Just when I came back, I had a flat, then another flat and then I had a crash. I had to fight to come back to the front four times. That put me in the red a little bit. But I was still there. When they went hard once I went all kind of flat. So it's another disappointing day for me."

Sports director Fabio Baldato was happy to see the team come away with 4th on a day where they were marred by plenty of bad luck.

"It was really a tremendous day with some really bad luck," he said. "But we were close to reaching our goals. I'm proud of what the guys did today. Everybody was being a good teammate."

With the cobbled season now behind us, the team turns its attention to the Ardennes classics where Greg Van Avermaet will once again be in the mix. Together with world champion Philippe Gilbert, the Belgian is expected to lead the team in all three of the hilly one-day races.