Tom Boonen was among the top-line favorites for the 2005 world road cycling championships, but with less than three kilometers to go in Sunday’s 272km race, it didn’t look like he, Alessandro Petacchi or Robbie McEwen had a chance.

A six-man break had slipped away from the sprinters in a chaotic, attack-filled final lap, but Boonen’s Belgian bodyguards saved the day, hurling him onto the finishing straight to catch the attacking Alexandre Vinokourov with 600 meters to go.

Boonen finished off the job with a long, 300-meter sprint and roared across the line to claim the coveted rainbow jersey. Archrivals McEwen and Petacchi both missed the winning move and were left fighting for scraps as the main bunch limped in 25 seconds later.

“I was very motivated and very focused,” said Boonen, the first Belgian champion since Johan Museeuw won in 1996. “I found some extra motivation from all the comments that said ‘Boonen wasn’t in shape,’ but I knew I would be ready for the world’s.”

Spain’s Alejandro Valverde brushed off a knee injury that forced him to abandon the Tour de France to earn his second silver medal in three years while Anthony Geslin gave France something to cheer about with a bronze.

Italian-American Guido Trenti led the U.S. national team with 23rd while Fred Rodriguez came in with the main bunch in 59th. John Lieswyn finished 86th at 5:19 back in the final major race of his career. Patrick McCarty, Jason McCartney, Saul Raisin and Phil Zajicek didn’t finish. An ill Christian Vande Velde didn’t start.What a finale!
The 193-field seemed to be on a siesta until three laps to go on the technical, undulating 21km, 13-lap circuit course in the heart of downtown Madrid. Bright summer skies and huge crowds made for a festive atmosphere for the race.With only two big-ring climbs to soften up the bunch, the universal expectations called for a mass sprint.

American Saul Raisin was the strongest rider in an early breakaway that held sway until three laps to go (see below). The field-sprint seemed scripted after a dangerous 10-man attack was neutralized coming in for the final bell lap.Early attempts by the Spanish team to blow open the race failed and the Italian azzurri team appeared to be in firm control as the peloton hit the final, long grinding climb at the Avenida del Cardenal Herrera Oria with 12.3km to go.More of a rise than a hill, the 2.2km stretch of road would foil the sprinter’s best-laid plans. More than six hours of racing played themselves out as Karsten Kroon (Netherlands) opened the hostilities to string out the main bunch.

Vinokourov, winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège and two stages in this year’s Tour de France, put down a blistering attack that blew apart the peloton. The Italians and Australians couldn’t answer and the attacking Kazakh quickly opened a gap on the bunch. Giving chase were Nick Nuyens (Belgium) and Paolo Bettini (Italy).

No team was strong enough to impose discipline on the bunch it was every man for himself. Latching onto Vinokourov and Bettini was Michael Boogerd (Netherlands) while chasing were Koos Moerenhout (Netherlands), Marcos Serrano (Spain) and Gorazd Stangelj (Slovenia) with about 5km to go.The two threesomes came together to hold a small gap as the main bunch hit the final flat kilometers, but no one could close down the break. The Italians were disillusioned after Petacchi complained of “wooden legs” and sinus problems that sapped his strength in the final laps.“In the last lap I wasn’t feeling too good and was struggling to stay with the front riders,” said the 31-year-old Italian who’s won 28 races this year. “That’s why I told Bettini to go for it.”

Bettini was visibly angry at the finish line after finishing 13th because he was told not to work when he was in an earlier break with three laps to go. Italian national coach Franco Ballerini expressed disappointment that Petacchi couldn’t deliver.“It was just a question of legs, there are no other excuses,” Ballerini said. “I only got the message that Petacchi wasn’t good on the last lap, but that shouldn’t affect what you’re feeling in your legs.”

Behind the leading six, the Italians, Germans and Australians were fighting to keep it together for the sprint.Rodriguez had a front-row seat and was thinking he was in fine position when he pulled up alongside Petacchi and McEwen. Before he knew it, the bunch had fractured. Up ahead, Boonen, Valverde and about another 20 riders had chugged away.

“I was right on Petacchi’s wheel and I thought when we made it past that one climb it would all come back together, then somehow it broke up,” Rodriguez said. “I did the best I could, because I knew if I could make it up to the front with the top sprinters I’d be one of the favorites.”Boonen takes the cake
The leading six were nursing a seven-second lead when they hit the Paseo de la Castellana finishing straight, but Boonen was finding friends all over the place. Someone jokingly asked how many Italians he saw in the peloton today, Boonen quipped: “50,” but the Belgian could count on some allies as well.

Boonen teammates Nuyens, Bjorn Leukemans, Mario Aerts and Peter Van Petegem proved decisive and helped closed the gap to the Vinokourov-Bettini group in the final heart-stopping kilometers.Vinokourov hit the final controversial corner, which organizers widened during the week after rider complaints, just as Boonen and Co. were bearing down to close the gap. The slightly rising, 600-meter straight shot to the line was tailor-made for Boonen’s big engine.

“In the last 300 meters I saw Alejandro start to sprint for the finish line but I just kept going and waited for the 200 meter mark to start mine,” Boonen said. “I never had a doubt about any of the riders in the team. They were great today, especially on the last lap.”Boonen’s impressive victory makes official the royal coronation that began this spring with his double at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. He followed that up with two stage wins and a run in the green jersey before crashing out of the Tour.

To come back from his Tour knee injury to win the world title ahead of hyped favorites Petacchi and McEwen makes it even more impressive.

“The last two laps I didn’t see Petacchi because I didn’t focus on him,” Boonen said. “I’ve seen and realized in the past, if you’re focusing your sprint on another rider, most of the time you lose. It’s always better to do your own race, keep cool, keep focused. In the final lap, it’s not necessary to look to other riders, but make your own sprint.”

Boonen did just that and tonight he’ll be sleeping in the rainbow jersey.Raisin' hell in early break
With such hyped expectations, it didn’t take long to get things going. On the first of 13 laps on the 21km circuit, Krasimir Vasilev (Bulgaria) charged off the front. Juan Carlos Lopez Martín (Colombia) gave chase at 1:02, but the peloton led by Andres Borrajo (Argentina) came through at 3:47 back after the first lap.

Sensing this was a chance to take pressure off their respective team, Saul Raisin and Dmitriy Muravyev (Kazakhstan) sprung out of the peloton in the second lap. Vasilev was holding off Lopez Martín at 1:13 while Raisin and Muravyev were chasing at 3:44 back with the peloton was 8:09 back.

It all came together by the fourth lap, Raisin and Muravyev bridging up to Vasilev and Lopez Martín. Through lap five, the average speed was 41.194kph and the leading quartet had a 9:05 gap.The Americans and Canadians were left short one rider when Christian Vande Velde and Michael Barry didn’t take their respective starts. Vande Velde said the pair ate at a Michelin-starred restaurant with their wives last Wednesday to celebrate the end of the Vuelta a España, which concluded in Madrid on Sept. 18, with disastrous effects.

Food poisoning kept them both in bed until Sunday, when they went on their first training ride since becoming ill.“We got beaten down by some clams,” Vande Velde said Sunday morning. “If it had happened 12 hours earlier, I would have been OK, but I’m in no shape to go 280km. I could have ridden the first half and maybe helped, but it would have hurt my chances in the rest of the races this fall.”

The gap was holding steady when the Colombian dropped back. With six laps to go, Raisin was still looking strong, but the peloton had woken from its collective slumber and the gap was trimmed to seven minutes.

The long grind took it out of Vasilev, leaving on Raisin and Muravyev to fight the good fight to keep the gap at six minutes with five laps to go.Siesta is over
So far through the race, the peloton had barely raised a finger. It wasn’t so much that a team like the Italian’s was smothering the action, there simply weren’t any major attacks through the first eight laps to challenge Raisin.

The peloton finally woke up when Spain put four riders on the front coming into the end of the ninth lap. With about 4.5 laps to go, the first real attack out of the peloton came with Dutch rider Joost Posthuma as the increased pace caused a fracture in the main bunch. Francisco Mancebo (Spain) and Filippo Pozzato (Italy) marked the move as the main bunch came through down to 3:26 led by German Jens Voigt.

“When the attacks started, it just blew up the bunch,” said Zajicek, who flew to Europe on Thursday. “My legs were kind of blocked, but I was there to keep Freddie out of the wind as long as possible.”

With time running out, anyone hoping to challenge the sprinters had to try. The Italians were marking the front of the bunch to keep a lid on any aggression. Six blue azzuri jerseys were pinned on the front of the main bunch as the gap dwindled to 1:50 with just over three laps to go.

Just as the peloton rolled onto the finishing straight Paseo de la Castellana and past the distinctive “leaning towers” at the Plaza de Castilla, the main bunch zeroed in on Raisin and Muravyev.

It was a fantastic effort by Raisin, who’s enjoyed a fine second season racing in Europe for Credit Agricole. The 22-year-old Georgian came into the world’s in good shape, fresh off winning the best climber’s jersey at the Tour de l’Avenir and finishing ninth overall at the Tour of Georgia.Final sparks
Denis Shkarpeta (Uzbekistan) slipped away just before the start-finish area with three laps to go as the Aussies massed at the front. Christophe Kern (France) was on the march in an explosive move out of the main bunch.

The sparks flew when Spain’s Oscar Pereiro gave it a dig on the Dehesa climb with Dane Jakob Piil giving chase. Team CSC manager and Piil’s boss, Bjarne Riis, said Piil was so strong in training last week in Italy he couldn’t drop him on his scooter during motor-pacing. Both were coming out of the Vuelta with revenge on their minds, with Pereiro just falling short of a stage victory and Piil crashing out with a broken thumb.

The leading pair was nursing an 18-second gap on the day’s second climb, along the long drag with about 7km to go when Dutchman Pieter Weening accelerated, prompting Martin Perdiguero (Spain), Paolo Bettini (Italy), Allan Davis (Australia) and Philip Gilbert (Belgium) to hitch a ride.

There was indecision among the riders as fatigue started to set in after nearly six hours in the saddle. Alejandro Valverde (Spain), Fabian Wegmann (Germany) and Stijn Devolder (Belgium) also snuck into this group, leaving Bettini out-gunned by three Spanish riders.

Perdiguero and Pereiro were hammering the pace for Valverde, but riders like Bettini, Wegmann and the Belgians were marking the move as the gap grew to 30 seconds. More riders were bridging out, including Alexandr Kolobnev (Russia).

In the lead break were: Paolo Bettini (Italy); Oscar Pereiro, Alejandro Valverde and Martin Perdiguero (Spain); Jakob Piil (Denmark); Paolo Bettini (Italy); Allan Davis (Australia); Sergey Lagutin (Uzbekistan); Philippe Gilbert (Belgium); Stijn Devolder (Belgium) and Fabian Wegmann (Germany).

By the time the main bunch came through, the gap was 1:14 and there was some confusion. All the major teams had riders in the break, the Italians with Bettini, the Germans with Wegmann, the Australian’s with Davis and three Spanish. There was some indecision in the main bunch on who was going to chase.

The gap was down to 52 seconds as the leaders hit the Dehesa climb on the penultimate lap, with the French giving a hand in the chase after missing the move. Pereiro drove the big-ring climb while the main bunch narrowed to gap to 26 seconds.

In a huge attack, Wegmann gave it a push on the long, grinding climb with 7km to go on the lap. The acceleration blew up the front group, leaving Piil, Gilbert, Devolder, Pereiro and Valverde to chase.

Davis was spit out the back, opening the door for the Aussies to take up the chase. Denis Menchov (Russia) followed Andrey Kashechkin (Kazakhstan) to try to bridge out as the front group started to put down some better cooperation.“I was frustrated in the break, because apart from the Spanish, I was the only riding for my own chances,” said Piil, who would later finish sixth. “All the other riders had the interests of their team captains and wouldn’t take any pulls.”

As the leaders hit the long finishing straight on the Castellana, the gap was down to 15 seconds for the bell lap. The Aussie’s took control, putting Simon Gerrans and Cadel Evans on the front to drive the chase.Sensing their time was on the wane, the leaders started counter-attacking, with Piil, Wegmann and Gilbert staying away by just seven seconds. One more surge by the Australians and it all came together. Or so it seemed.

2005 World Championships
Elite Men's Road Race
Madrid, Spain, September 25, 2005
1. Tom Boonen, (B) 273km in 6:26:10, (42.41kph)
2. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte, (Sp)
3. Anthony Geslin, (F)
4. Marcus Ljungqvist, (S)
5. Murilo Fischer, (Brz)
6. Jakob Piil, (Dk)
7. Alexandr Kolobnev, (Rus)
8. Andreas Klier, (G)
9. Julian Dean, (NZ)
10. Martin Elmiger, (Swi)
FullResultsProTour Rankings,
following the world’s road championship
1. Danilo Di Luca (I), 209 pts
2. Tom Boonen (B), 171
3. Jan Ullrich (G), 140
4. Lance Armstrong (USA), 139
5. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kz 136
6. Levi Leipheimer (USA), 131
7. Bobby Julich (USA), 130
8. George Hincapie (USA), 129
9. Alessandro Petacchi (I), 128
10. Davide Rebellin (I), 126
11. Denis Menchov (Rus), 109
12. Francisco Mancebo (Sp), 107
13. Michael Boogerd (Nl), 100
14. Cadel Evans (Aus), 99
15. Roberto Heras (Sp), 96
16. Santiago Botero (Col), 95
17. Oscar Freire (Sp), 94
18. Paolo Savoldelli (I), 92
19. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), 87
20. Ivan Basso (I), 86

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Tom Boonen Fact File
Born: 15/10/80 in Mol, Belgium
Lives: Monaco
Height: 1.92m
Weight: 80 kg
 
Teams:
U.S. Postal (2002), Quick Step (2003-present)Major victories:
One-day races2005 - World championship road race title, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, GP E3-Harelbeke2004 - Ghent-Wevelgem, GP E3-Harelbeke, GP de l'Escaut, Memorial Van SteenbergenStage races2005 - two stages of Tour de France (Les Essarts, Tours), two stages on Tour of Qatar, two stages of Paris-Nice, Tour de L'Oise and Picardie (plus two stages), Tour of Belgium overall (plus two stages)2004 - two stages of Tour de France (Angers and Paris/Champs-Elysees), Tour de Picardie (plus two stages), one stage on Tour of Belgium, two stages on Tour of Germany, one stage on Tour of Britain2003 - one stage on Tour of Belgium

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