One of the oldest one-day races in the world, Paris - Brussels, took place today over 216 kilometers. The classic was won by Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma Quick Step), ahead of Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) and Oskar Freire (Katusha). André Schulze was Team NetApp's best rider, finishing the race in eighth place.

After 35 kilometers a five-man breakaway group already formed around NetApp’s Reto Hollenstein. The group managed to get a lead of five minutes before the peloton began the chase and held the distance at approximately two minutes. The lead was lost 50 kilometers before the finish as two riders from the group attacked and the other riders around Hollenstein dropped back into the bunch. Both riders were caught again 30 km after their attacks. Despite further breakaway attempts before the finish, everything remained under the control of the peloton, so that the classic was decided in the mass sprint, as is often the case.

“Today, we wanted to send one rider into the lead in order to save our strength for the chase and concentrate on the attacks before the finish as well as the sprint. We made our presence felt in this race today. I am quite satisfied with this. André’s eight place in the sprint in this well-placed bunch is also quite satisfying,” said Jens Heppner, Sport Director for Team NetApp.

„Andreas Dietziker and Michael Schwarzmann fell approximately 80 km before the finish and did not finish the race due to the high time delay,” added Jens Heppner.

Missed the race? Check out the highlights here.

Website of the race