ROUBAIX, France, 12 April 2004 — Magnus Backstedt made history for his country when he became the first Swede to win the grueling Paris-Roubaix one-day classic, the third race in cycling’s World Cup here yesterday.
The powerfully-built Swede, who rides for the Italian Alessio team, easily held off his four breakaway companions to dominate a bunch sprint at the finish line of the Roubaix velodrome after 261 kilometers of action-packed racing.
After a string of pre-race favorites fell victim to some of the unwelcome events on the race known as the “Hell of the North”, Dutchman Tristan Hoffman of the Danish CSC team came second behind Backstedt with on-form Briton Roger Hammond, of Mr Bookmaker, claiming a deserved third place.
Backstedt, who showed his form earlier this week when he came second behind Quick Step’s Tom Boonen at the Ghent-Wevelgem one-day classic, said he realized he had a chance at victory once 38-year-old race favorite Johan Museeuw of Belgium picked up a puncture
Fortune failed to smile on Museeuw, who was gunning for a record-equaling fourth victory on the race, as Belgium’s ‘Lion of Flanders’ suffered a flat tire with less than seven kilometers remaining.
Museeuw, who was appearing in his last Paris-Roubaix ahead of his retirement at the GP de L’Escaut on Wednesday, eventually finished fifth ahead of his main rival, Belgian Lotto rider Van Petegem, the winner last year.
