Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara shook off Tom Boonen on the toughest climb of the Tour of Flanders and raced away to a solo victory ahead of the Belgian champion in one of the season's top one-day classics.
Lance Armstrong was close to the head of the pack until the last 20 miles and finished 27th as the leading Team Radioshack rider. He saw the event as a training run, while others raced it as their biggest challenge of the year. At 38, Armstrong proved he can still rattle and shake with the best on the wet and cold cobblestones, a key lesson to take into this summer's Tour de France.
"I felt better than I felt all year," Armstrong said after finishing more than 2 minutes behind Cancellara.
The American rider used the classic with its long stretches of cobblestones as preparation for the third stage of the Tour de France.
Cancellara broke away on the Wall of Geraardsbergen with 12 miles to go Sunday, and the reigning Olympic and world time trial champion never gave Boonen a chance to get close again. Belgium's Philippe Gilbert was third.
"The Wall is legendary. I gave it all I had," Cancellara said.
The Swiss champion finished the 163 miles in 6 hours, 25 minutes, 56 seconds.
Cancellara was totally relaxed over the last 8 miles along the flat roads, casually resting his forearms on the handlebar as he powered to the finish. It was Cancellara's biggest one-day victory since he took the Milan-San Remo classic two years ago. He was victorious at Paris-Roubaix in 2006 and, at 29, has now won three of the five leading one-day races.
"Toughest of all was to win the Tour of Flanders as a favorite. If you can do it like that, it doesn't get any better for an athlete," Cancellara said.
Midway through the morning, 198 racers left in the rain from under the Gothic spires of medieval Bruges on a long trek through the wind-swept flat lands of Flanders before hitting 15 short but steep climbs close to the finish in Meerbeke. Cobblestones dotted many of the late stages.