Failed pre-production part and miscommunication to blame for Quick-Step rider's crash
Greg Van Avermaet finished off the 2017 cobbled classics in style at Paris-Roubaix as he claimed his first monument victory. The BMC rider got the better of Zdenek Stybar (Quick-Step Floors) and Sebastian Langeveld (Cannondale-Drapac) in a three-up sprint with Gianni Moscon (Sky) and Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo) just trailing them. A strong tailwind from the start ensured the fastest ever edition of the 'hell of the north', surpassing the 1964 time of Peter Post.
In the final race of his career, Tom Boonen finished in the first chase group at 12 seconds to place 13th. 2016 champion Mat Hayman (Orica-Scott) and 2015 winner John Degenkolb (Trek-Segafredo) finished in Boonen's group. World Champion Peter Sagan was over five minutes down on chief rival Van Avermaet.
While it was a Belgian raising his arms in triumph, there was no fairytale ending to Boonen's career who hangs up his wheels equal with Roger De Vlaeminck on four Paris-Roubaix victories.
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