Stage 3 went from Belgium to France, and now we make the return journey. And not for the first time this season, its a race starting in a capital city, that ends at the Roubaix Velodrome. This time Brussels is the starting point, for the first decisive stage of this race.
To make things interesting, two cobbled riders attacked from the very start: Jacobs and Coyot. Others also attacked, but couldnt reach them, and only lost time on them.
This relationship did not last beyond the 2nd intermediate sprint. Coyot took it over Jacobs more convincingly than the first sprint above. A gap opened, up and was not going to be closed. If Coyot is to win, he will need to ride 133 gruelling kilometres solo
The lead peaked at 12 minutes, before Festina took control of the chase. The likes of Nolf and Geslin doing much of the work.
The gap to Coyot is roughly 5 minutes with 78km to go, and we have an attack! Kroon initially started it, but was soon passed by Burghardt, with Pluchkin and Claeys also countering
Burghardt has a small gap on Pluchkin, while the other 2 dont last infront of the pack for long
In 10km, Burghardt has wiped out the 2 minute gap to Jacobs and rode past him. In pursuit, Pluchkin also catches Jacobs
But for some reason Pluchkin decides to slow, allowing himself to be caught by the pack, along with Jacobs
With 57km to go, we reach cobbles. Coyot has been solo for some 76km - but not much longer - Burghardt approaches
They join together, holding a lead of 2'47 on the peleton. It seems like a tough ask for Burghardts move to be successful. But lets not forget that Burghardt is the current champion of Paris-Roubaix. He leaves Coyot for dead, pushing still onwards
Festina still lead the peloton, but they are losing to Burghahrdt! With 47km to go, Burghardts gap has risen to 4 minutes. With 42km to go, its now up to 5!
On 38km to go, the Germans lead is up to 5 and a half minutes. Coyot is caught by the pack, as Devolder and Spilak attack
The pack has been splitting up, and we now see the end of Festina involvement in the chase. Samuel Sanchez is dropped, so Nolf, Geslin, Ingels and Van Loocke are all pulled back for him - leaving Hushovd isolated.
Devolder and Spilak were briefly together, before Devolder pulled away - and he has got Burghardts gap down to 4 and a half minutes now
Devolder leads Spilak by a minute as the Slovenian is caught. The peleton is now less than 40 in size, as Lars Boom launches a new move. Thomas, Joly and Posthuma follow - Maes originally did, but either could not follow or instead chose to stop and stay with Spilak
By attacking first, Booms attack ended first, while the others could counter past him. But another rider is set to move past him from the pack: its Tom Boonen!
Burghardt is still the leader, and he now has 20km to go
His lead? 3 minutes 50 seconds over Devolder, who is now joined by Boonen
55 seconds further back are Joly, Thomas, Posthuma and Boom, who in turn are just 20 seconds ahead of the 31 rider chase group
Make that a 16 rider chase group. More splits occur, and Spilak is now dropped - Florencio, Maes and Deroo fall back for him - as he rides with Gabon's finest Amadou Bakari
It looks like Boonen has gotten rid of Devolder. Yes, he has. With 17km to go, he cuts Burghardts lead to 3 minutes, already holding a minute on pre-race favourite Devolder
Joly, Thomas, Posthuma and Boom are brought back into the chase group, and we have new attacks led by Gusev, Ballan and Steegmans
Joly tried to follow, but couldnt quite bridge, as the trio look to catch Devolder. The 9 chasers behind Joly are Nuyens, Baugnies, Langeveld, Thomas, Hushovd, Boom, Veelers, Cooke, and Freire
Breschel, Posthuma, Van Impe, Schar and Kozontchuk have just been dropped, while Pluchkin is a miniute back in a group that seems to be with Spilak
Its become a 2 rider battle for the stage. And as we hit the last cobbles with 11km to go, Burghardt still holds a 2'15 lead - as the start of the day Boonen led Burghardt by 1'29 in GC
Ballan, Gusev and Steegmans have caught Devolder - they are situated 2 minutes behind Boonen
Just over a kilometre later, and they have dropped Devolder
Theres also been a split in the chase group behind them. Baugnies, Veelers, Hushovd, Nuyens and Langeveld now have a gap over Boom, Joly, Thomas, Cooke and Freire
Marcus Burghardt enters the velodrome - but he is no longer the virtual race leader - his lead down to 1'20
Boonen is not giving up, but its looking increasingly unlikely that he can catch Burghardt
Meanwhile Gusev, Steegmans and Ballan are attacking each other
Boonen and Burghardt now start the final lap, inside 3km to go. Boonen is doing 4/5 km/h faster than Burghardt, with the gap now under 1 minute
That gap is too big though, and this stage fully belongs to Marcus Burghardt. He beats Tom Boonen once again to Roubaix, this time after a monster solo ride of nearly 80km. He is however in an unfortunate position with Stijn Devolder, a lap behind, as he celebrates the win
Chasing hard to the end, Boonen takes 2nd - 38 seconds lost - but the Leaders jersey kept
Attacks came to nothing for the next trio, and now Ballan, Gusev and Steegmans will sprint it out for 3rd
Hushovd has jumped away from his group and caught Devolder - but Baugnies is chasing
Ballan takes a comfortable 3rd
Steegmans is 4th, and then Gusev - they do get the same time as Ballan though - 2'40 behind Burghardt - showing they at least kept pace with Boonen over the closing stages.
Baugnies catches Hushovd and surprisingly outsprints him for 6th
Devolder takes 8th, ahead of Nuyens, Veelers and Langeveld - all getting the same time as Baugnies and Hushovd - which is 3'50 behind Burghardt
At 5'06 comes Freire and Joly
On the same time of them are Thomas, Cooke, Boom, Breschel, Van Impe, Kozontchuk and Schar
Posthuma was gapped late on from this group and finishes at 6'07. Maes comes in at 7'13 before Vantomme at 7'34 leads in the group containing Spilak and Pluchkin
