Paris-Roubaix: Ian Stannard happy with podium after late attack fails
By Matt Westby
Last Updated: 10/04/16 9:55pm
Ian Stannard was happy to finish on the podium at Paris-Roubaix on Sunday but rued the fact his late attack failed.
The Team Sky rider crossed the line third in a sprint finish behind winner Mathew Hayman and runner-up Tom Boonen to become only the third Briton to stand on the Roubaix podium.
Stannard had earlier formed part of a five-man lead group with just under 20km to go and then attacked with 6km left, but he could only open up a small gap over his rivals and was caught 1km later.
He said: "I'm obviously happy to be on the podium. But it's also so close, so far. There are still two steps to go; maybe next year.
"I wanted to attack to avoid having to sprint against guys like Boonen or Edvald [Boasson Hagen]. I tried to attack in the finale. That's what I'm better at if you like.
"I had a little bit of speed left but the cobbles were pretty slippery and you lose a lot of energy on them."
Stannard was dropped by an attack from Hayman with about 2.2km to go but managed to catch up to the leaders just in time for the sprint finish in the Roubaix Velodrome.
However, he was out of energy by then and was unable to mount a challenge for the win.
He added: "The finale was pretty nervous. Nobody really had the legs. Mat is a great friend and I'm super happy to see him win.
"For him to outsprint Boonen is pretty impressive. He's an ex-team-mate and seeing everything he has done, I'm really impressed."
