Written by: Justin Davis

ROUBAIX, France, April 10, 2011 – Garmin-Cervelo’s Johan Van Summeren
struggled to come to terms with achieving a lifelong dream by winning the
grueling Paris-Roubaix one-day classic on Sunday.

But the 30-year-old Belgian might remember April 10 for another special
reason.

Van Summeren completed an epic day of racing over 258 km, 51.5 km of which
were treacherous cobblestones, by finishing 19sec ahead of Switzerland’s
defending champion Fabian Cancellara.

Known for being one of the most loyal support riders in the peloton, and
the tallest at 1.97 metres, Van Summeren’s unlikely bid was given a huge boost
when Cancellara and main rival Thor Hushovd neutralized each other in the
closing 50km.

As the reality of winning one of cycling’s five ‘monuments’ sunk in, the
lanky Flemish rider was stunned for the second time by an unexpected proposal
from his girlfriend.

“She wants to marry me,” said the Belgian, who in keeping with tradition
was awarded one of the race’s famous cobblestones as part of his 30,000 euro
victory prize.

“Some people give a ring, I give a rock!”

Since their merger with Cervelo, Garmin team manager Jonathan Vaughters has
one of the strongest one-day classics teams in the peloton although they had
failed to live up to their reputation this spring.

While Hushovd was the man expected to loosen Cancellara’s grip on the
cobbles, Vaughters wasn’t being fussy as he celebrated Van Summeren instead.

“We didn’t have the strongest person. We didn’t have Cancellara, but we had
the strongest team, and that’s what this is about,” said Vaughters.

Van Summeren covered his team by getting into an early breakaway, meaning
Garmin-Cervelo wouldn’t be obliged to spend precious energy chasing the
leaders.

And with a number of other big teams missing the break, that proved to be
the perfect tactic when it came to the crunch.

When Dane Lars Bak of HTC-Highroad went off the front of their lead group
with 23 km and five of the 27 cobbled sectors to race, Van Summeren was one of
three riders who followed.

They built up a lead, and as Hushovd refused to help Cancellara in the
chase further back the Belgian seized the day by attacking at the Carrefour de
l’Arbre, the fourth-last sector.

Van Summeren added: “The leader of our team today was Thor, and I was
supposed to help him all the way to the finish but when I found myself in the
breakaway group I felt that I really had the legs to go for it.

“Then Lars Bak attacked. I went with him. Jonathan (Vaughters) kept telling
me to wait till the Carrefour de l’Arbre (before attacking). I knew I should
ride on the (middle of the) stones there to go as fast as possible.

“I looked back one time and saw (Maarten) Tjallingii was behind me. Then I
came off the cobbles and looked again and he wasn’t there.”

Although Hushovd lost out for yet another year after second and third place
finishes in 2010 and 2009 respectively, he is sure to get payback.

“Thor was very happy for me, and I’m glad about that,” added Van Summeren.

“But I can assure him, there will be plenty of other races I will be
helping him to win.”

Article: AFP