ROUBAIX, France (AP) Matthew Hayman of Australia, 37, out-sprinted his rivals to win the prestigious Paris-Roubaix race - known as the Queen of Classics - for the biggest win of his career.
Hayman, whose previous career highlight was the gold medal in the Commonwealth Games road race in 2006, beat four-time champion Tom Boonen of Belgium in a dash to the line Sunday.
Hayman is the second Australian to win the famed race over cobblestones after Stuart O'Grady in 2007. He did so in his 15th attempt, having twice finished in the top 10.
Britain's Ian Stannard finished third ahead of Belgium's Sep Vanmarcke. Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen placed fifth.
Boonen tried to pull away 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) from the end but was caught. The 35-year-old Boonen still looked set for a fifth win as he led Hayman and Vanmarcke coming into the velodrome.
Hayman's win was even more unexpected given that he has hardly raced since breaking his arm five weeks ago at the Het Nieuwsblad race.
French sprinter Arnaud Demare pulled out Thursday following a crash last weekend during the 100th edition of the Tour of Flanders - won by world champion Peter Sagan of Slovakia.
Demare, who recovered from a crash to win the prestigious Milan-San Remo classic last month, injured the right side of his body in the crash and did not feel fit enough to take part.
Just after the halfway stage of the 257.5-kilometer (159.7-mile) route from Compiegne to Roubaix, a crash split the peloton and caught Sagan and other pre-race favorites such as Fabian Cancellara and Alexander Kristoff, who sustained two punctures during the race.
With about 50 kilometers remaining, Cancellara's hopes of a fourth Roubaix win were undone when he crashed heavily on the cobbled sector of Mons en Pevele along with Dutchman Niki Terpstra, the 2014 champion.
