Paris-Roubaix: Mathew Hayman in 'pure disbelief' after surprise win
By Matt Westby
Last Updated: 03/11/16 1:30pm
Mathew Hayman admitted he was in a state of "pure disbelief" after sprinting to a surprise victory at Paris-Roubaix aged 37 on Sunday.
The Australian became the third-oldest winner in the 114 editions of the prestigious one-day cobbled classic by joining a lead group of five riders with 19km to go and then beating Tom Boonen into second place in the Roubaix Velodrome.
It was only the third professional victory of his career and came just six weeks after breaking his arm in a crash at the Belgian classic Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in February.
Hayman said: "It's just pure disbelief. I did not even dare dream today. I was just riding and enjoying. I just played the game and I was lucky.
"It's going to take a while for this realisation to come. I came here before with great ambitions aiming at a podium and giving myself a lot of pressure. This time I was just coming here to enjoy a race I love a lot or to help someone if I could. Today everything just came into place."
Hayman formed part of the day's initial 15-rider breakaway but stayed at the head of the race after the escape was caught by a lead group of about 20 riders.
When that was whittled down to five with about 19km to go, Hayman managed to stay in contention and successfully preserved energy for the decisive sprint.
He added: "Paris-Roubaix is one of the only 'Monuments' in which a breakaway has a chance to go all the way. I knew if I was in the break I needed to wait for the finale and for the strong guys to return. I thought it might be Fabian [Cancellara] or [Peter] Sagan.
"I was just saving, saving, saving and staying out of trouble. With one kilometre to go, I was just glad to be there.
"It was pretty surreal to ride there on the velodrome with Tom. We came round the corner I was on his wheel. I still had a feeling that everyone was pretty tired. I decided to hit out and go for it.
"I was a little worried seeing the 200 metres sign, as it's a long way on tired legs. Again, I was in a pretty surreal state in the finale. I was strangely relaxed with everything I was doing."
Boonen was chasing a record fifth Paris-Roubaix win but admitted he had no energy left for the decisive sprint.
He said: "I rode to win it. I worked very hard. In the final sprint I did everything I could to win it. But I was dead, everyone was dead."
