Cycling classics
Paris-Roubaix: Professional cyclists argue about chicanery
The Paris-Roubaix cycling classic takes place on Sunday. In front of the Arenberg forest, a chicane is now supposed to slow down the field of drivers. photo
© Dirk Waem/Belga/dpa
There are repeated violent falls on the cobblestone sections of the spring classic Paris-Roubaix. Can a chicane at a key point help?
The built-in chicane in front of the dreaded Arenberg forest at the spring classic Paris-Roubaix has led to controversial debates among professional cyclists.
“Is this a joke?” wrote last year’s winner and top favorite Mathieu van der Poel on the short message service X, formerly Twitter. He commented on pictures of the new route, which is intended to reduce the speed of drivers from around 60 to a good 35 kilometers per hour before entering the dangerous stretch of cobblestones on Sunday.
The discussions began before the serious mass fall at the Tour of the Basque Country, where, among others, Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard and time trial world champion Remco Evenepoel were seriously injured.
Thierry Gouvenou, race director at Paris-Roubaix, criticized the excessively high speeds in the field in the subsequent debate. American Matteo Jorgenson, who recently won Paris-Nice, had a different opinion than van der Poel: “Is this what the fans want to see? Drivers completely covered in blood after racing face-first over sharp stones at 80 km/h slipped in a forest?” Jorgenson linked a video from 2016 when the Australian Mitchell Docker fell violently on the cobblestone sector.
No rain but still damp
The section in the Arenberg forest is famous and infamous. The paved section, on which classics king Johan Museeuw broke his kneecap in 1998, is 2.3 kilometers long and has the highest level of difficulty with five stars. The drivers’ association CPA had expressed the desire for a chicane. “If it rains, it is a variant that makes sense because it would take away the pace and speed,” said former winner John Degenkolb of the German Press Agency.
No rain is forecast for Sunday’s race, but due to the heavy rainfall in recent weeks, many areas are still wet and muddy. “The request seems completely logical to me. As a professional, I drove Paris-Roubaix twelve times and every time I got there I asked myself how I would fare. When we get here, we’ll play a little Russian roulette,” said race director Gouvenou.
The drivers now have to drive through a loop of barriers. Since there are always fierce battles for position in front of the forest, there are now fears of falls in the chicane.