Fabian Cancellara wins Paris-Roubaix for 3rd time

• Cancellara won two other early season races in recent weeks
• Tom Boonen%2C Peter Sagan withdrew from the race
• There were a number of falls in the 158-mile race

ROUBAIX, France (AP) — Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland edged out Sep Vanmarcke in a final sprint to win the Paris-Roubaix cobblestone classic for a third time on Sunday.

Cancellara was the heavy favorite for the 254.5 kilometer (158-mile) race following the withdrawal of Tom Boonen and Peter Sagan.

The RadioShack Leopard rider held off Vanmarcke to win in 5 hours, 45 minutes, 33 seconds.

It was Cancellara's third major WorldTour victory in the last three weeks after the E3 Harelbeke event and the Ronde of Flanders.

Niki Terpstra edged out Greg Van Avermaet to claim third, 31 seconds behind Cancellara.

Zdenek Stybar had been pushing the leading duo, but his chances were ended when he clipped a fan 15K from the finish. The Czech cyclist finished sixth.

Shortly before, Stybar's Omega Pharma-Quick Step teammate, Stijn Vandenbergh, had also crashed into a supporter and fell on the Carrefour de l'Arbre.

There was a number of other falls as the race, which has 27 cobbled sectors, lived up to its billing as the "Hell of the North."

Cancellara was content to sit back in the peloton for most of the route before making his move with around 30K remaining. Along with Stybar, he caught the leading duo of Vanmarcke and Vandenbergh around 20K from the line.

The quartet built up a lead of 35 seconds on their pursuers before misfortune hit the Omega Pharma duo, leaving Cancellara and Vanmarcke to fight it out as the race went right to the end for the first time since 2008.