Fabian Cancellara crashes in the velodrome after finishing final Paris-Roubaix (video)

Fabian Cancellara would have wanted to say goodbye to Paris-Roubaix by crossing the line first and sealing his fourth victory. Instead he finished on his backside after taking a tumble on his lap of honour.

The Swiss saw his chances of winning destroyed by a crash on the five-star Mons-en-Pévèle sector and he rolled in over three minutes down on winner Mathew Hayman.

But as he waved goodbye to his fans in the Roubaix velodrome he grabbed a huge Swiss flag on a stick to take with him on his lap.

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It backfired somewhat, with Cancellara losing some grip on his back wheel, skidding and finally crashing to the track and sliding down the boards into a puddle.

To be fair to the man, he styled it out somewhat - as much as you can when you're on your backside in a puddle, anyway.

It brought to an end Cancellara's storied cobbled Classics career, in which he won three Tours of Flanders and three Paris-Roubaix titles.