Australian Stuart O'Grady beat the pre-race favourites to clinch his maiden win on the Paris-Roubaix cycling classic over 259.5 kms.

The CSC rider broke away 23 kms from the finish to come home in six hours nine minutes seven seconds.

Spain's Juan Antonio Flecha of the Rabobank team was second, 52 seconds behind the winner, with Swiss Steffen Wesemann third.

O'Grady, winner of a couple of Tour de France stages in the past, outshone the specialists to score by far his greatest victory on the road.

"Track is where I was born and since this finishes on a cycling track, I had told myself, why not?" said the 33-year-old, winner of Olympic medals on track in Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney.

But Roubaix will probably rank even higher as the most unexpected and the best deserved of his 46 professional victories on the road.

"It's a dream and I can hardly believe it. This is the first race I ever saw on a video back home years and years ago," said O'Grady, who suffered a bad crash and injury last season.

Last year's winner Fabian Cancellara was team favourite but O'Grady, who shares rooms with the Swiss in races, took control when his room mate made it clear he did not feel well.

"I spoke to Fabian quickly and he said he was not feeling a 100 per cent. I saw that Wesemann was going pretty strong and after that there was no holding back."

Favourite Tom Boonen of Belgium, the 2005 winner, had to settle for sixth place, 55 seconds down, after making his move too late.

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