115th Paris-Roubaix 2017 - April 9, 257k

[Volderke]

Re: Re:

It's just that for me Arenberg is not the hardest secteur in the race or a significant factor in the deciding selection.

So what would be the hardest section? Having ridden each section at least three times, Wallers-Arenberg stands out for me.

 

[Volderke]

Re:

The team winning is still the most important thing; perhaps followed by not upsetting the star riders on your roster who won't be retiring.

You realize that chances are big their won't be a Quickstep team anymore after Boonen, and all riders could be signing contracts with other teams this summer?

 

[loge1884]

Re: Re:

The team winning is still the most important thing; perhaps followed by not upsetting the star riders on your roster who won't be retiring.

You realize that chances are big their won't be a Quickstep team anymore after Boonen, and all riders could be signing contracts with other teams this summer?

such might happen to any cycling team - they don't seem to be there to last ....

 

[Volderke]

Re: Re:

The team winning is still the most important thing; perhaps followed by not upsetting the star riders on your roster who won't be retiring.

You realize that chances are big their won't be a Quickstep team anymore after Boonen, and all riders could be signing contracts with other teams this summer?

such might happen to any cycling team - they don't seem to be there to last ....

Seems you are uniformed, too, that all sponsors stop this year at Quickstep and Patrick Lefevere is almost at retirement age and Boonen isn't racing anymore... If there is no sponsor before 30th of June, the whole team disintegrates. So the argument about priorities for star riders under contract over Boonen (think Stybar) is void.

 

[kobee]

Hopeing for a epic Roubaix as the farewell race for the greatest classic rider of our generation, Tom tommeke Boonen. Theres no gifts in this sports so I wont say I hope he wins, ill only say I hope he avoids any missfortune and may the strongest win.

 

[the asian]

Re: Re:

The team winning is still the most important thing; perhaps followed by not upsetting the star riders on your roster who won't be retiring.

You realize that chances are big their won't be a Quickstep team anymore after Boonen, and all riders could be signing contracts with other teams this summer?

such might happen to any cycling team - they don't seem to be there to last ....

Seems you are uniformed, too, that all sponsors stop this year at Quickstep and Patrick Lefevere is almost at retirement age and Boonen isn't racing anymore... If there is no sponsor before 30th of June, the whole team disintegrates. So the argument about priorities for star riders under contract over Boonen (think Stybar) is void.

Bakala has Guaranteed that the team will continue at least until 2020. If they fail to find sponsors he has enough money to keep the team afloat though may be at a reduced budget.

 

[Flamin]

Re: Re:

The team winning is still the most important thing; perhaps followed by not upsetting the star riders on your roster who won't be retiring.

You realize that chances are big their won't be a Quickstep team anymore after Boonen, and all riders could be signing contracts with other teams this summer?

such might happen to any cycling team - they don't seem to be there to last ....

Seems you are uniformed, too, that all sponsors stop this year at Quickstep and Patrick Lefevere is almost at retirement age and Boonen isn't racing anymore... If there is no sponsor before 30th of June, the whole team disintegrates. So the argument about priorities for star riders under contract over Boonen (think Stybar) is void.

Source that "the chances are big" Quick Step won't exist next year? Guess you have inside info because that's not what Lefevre said in extra time this week.

 

[LugHugger]

Re: Re:

It's just that for me Arenberg is not the hardest secteur in the race or a significant factor in the deciding selection.

So what would be the hardest section? Having ridden each section at least three times, Wallers-Arenberg stands out for me.

Well, horses for courses. Perhaps I make life difficult for myself and refuse to ride in the gutters! Living only a couple of hours away from the course affords me a privilege that most aren't able to enjoy so, for me, Camphin ev Pevele through Gruson is the hardest part of the course. Because of the gradient on the first half of Arenberg, my experience is that it's far easier to maintain momentum and compose yourself to complete the section in good shape.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

You can certainly lose the race at Arenberg. Who can forget the pictures of a forlorn Boonen standing at the side of the cobbles with his chain jammed? It's just that for me Arenberg is not the hardest secteur in the race or a significant factor in the deciding selection.

Fair enough. I'm a big fan mainly because I think having a sector like that at 100km or so from the finish is what makes Paris-Roubaix such a great and unique race. It may not be the hardest objectively, but it's still really tough and having sectors like the Arenberg where they are in the race separates PR from all the other races and gives it so much illusion. Other races are basically a group ride for 150-200km followed by a final 50km or so where all the challenges are packed together.

PR is 150km+ of just constant fighting for position before the cobbles, followed by the cobbled sections themselves. There's hardly any respite at all. And, for me at least, the Arenberg is the most iconic and photogenic part of that.

 

[Saint Unix]

Re: Re:

I don't have first-hand experience with Arenberg, but most of the pros say it's the sector with the worst cobbles. They're big, uneven and badly cut. There's also the fact that the sector is incredibly narrow with barriers to prevent riders from riding off the pavé and that the forest blocks out the sun and keeps the moisture trapped underneath the trees, which makes the cobbles damp and mossy, and thus slippery.

However, the most important reason for Arenberg being feared as it is is one that can't be replicated merely by riding it alone during a training ride. Arenberg comes relatively early in the race, when the selection process has hardly even begun and riders are reasonably fresh. That means that you have 150-200 nervous riders going full blast into a path of uneven, slippery cobbles that's only three meters wide, knowing full well that they have to ride hard and fight at the front to have any hope of winning the most important classic of the year. There's very little room for error in that situation, but the tension is as high as it will ever be. That's just a recipe for disaster. At Mons-en-Pévèle and Carrefour the riders are tired and usually split into small groups, which means the speed is lower and the frantic fighting for position is less of a factor.

 

[loge1884]

Re: Re:

However, the most important reason for Arenberg being feared as it is is one that can't be replicated merely by riding it alone during a training ride. Arenberg comes relatively early in the race, when the selection process has hardly even begun and riders are reasonably fresh. That means that you have 150-200 nervous riders going full blast into a path of uneven, slippery cobbles that's only three meters wide, knowing full well that they have to ride hard and fight at the front to have any hope of winning the most important classic of the year. There's very little room for error in that situation, but the tension is as high as it will ever be. That's just a recipe for disaster. At Mons-en-Pévèle and Carrefour the riders are tired and usually split into small groups, which means the speed is lower and the frantic fighting for position is less of a factor.

This: ++
Arenberg is not deciding the winner, but you get the selection there who may continue to hope and who's prospects are "game over" .... and as it is a jam-packed messy ride all you can do is being 101% alert and hoping for a bit of luck (or the lack of bad luck) ....

 

[Volderke]

Re: Re:

It's just that for me Arenberg is not the hardest secteur in the race or a significant factor in the deciding selection.

So what would be the hardest section? Having ridden each section at least three times, Wallers-Arenberg stands out for me.

Well, horses for courses. Perhaps I make life difficult for myself and refuse to ride in the gutters! Living only a couple of hours away from the course affords me a privilege that most aren't able to enjoy so, for me, Camphin ev Pevele through Gruson is the hardest part of the course. Because of the gradient on the first half of Arenberg, my experience is that it's far easier to maintain momentum and compose yourself to complete the section in good shape.

Camphin is bad especially especially before the curve, but worse than Wallers? It's 600 meters shorter so compare the last non-downhill 1800 meters in Wallers with Camphin (which isn't uphill by the way, but quite windy, yes), en Wallers is always worse. I don't understand what you mean by refusing to ride in the gutters. There aren't any in Wallers nor Camphin. You could cheat in Wallers but I have never done that. I sometimes ride from home to Carrefour/Camphin and Carrefour is also definitely worse than Camphin.

 

[Volderke]

Re: Re:

Bakala has Guaranteed that the team will continue at least until 2020. If they fail to find sponsors he has enough money to keep the team afloat though may be at a reduced budget.

Afloat is not the same as keeping a team of expensive superstars on board..

 

[LugHugger]

Re: Re:

It's just that for me Arenberg is not the hardest secteur in the race or a significant factor in the deciding selection.

So what would be the hardest section? Having ridden each section at least three times, Wallers-Arenberg stands out for me.

Well, horses for courses. Perhaps I make life difficult for myself and refuse to ride in the gutters! Living only a couple of hours away from the course affords me a privilege that most aren't able to enjoy so, for me, Camphin ev Pevele through Gruson is the hardest part of the course. Because of the gradient on the first half of Arenberg, my experience is that it's far easier to maintain momentum and compose yourself to complete the section in good shape.

Camphin is bad especially especially before the curve, but worse than Wallers? It's 600 meters shorter so compare the last non-downhill 1800 meters in Wallers with Camphin (which isn't uphill by the way, but quite windy, yes), en Wallers is always worse. I don't understand what you mean by refusing to ride in the gutters. There aren't any in Wallers nor Camphin. You could cheat in Wallers but I have never done that. I sometimes ride from home to Carrefour/Camphin and Carrefour is also definitely worse than Camphin.

For sure! Carrefour is the hardest section on the course imo.

 

[El Pistolero]

What a shame that Gilbert won't be there. There's nothing to gain for him in the Ardennes classics.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Commentators are always mentioning Arenberg as the hardest, I have no clue, I guess its subjective. It has legend tho and is really the start of the finale. Carrefour is so late in the race and if I remember correctly, always dusty and has some sharp corners. Specifically remember the epic 2009 edition with Boonen, Pippo, Thor, Host, VanS and Flecha. That was a demolition derby at Carrefour and subsequently an epic chase from the most stylish rider in the world on the cobbles against pure power.

Basically the only two pavées I really can recall.

 

[silvergrenade]

Valverde should ride this!
Piti ftw!

 

[Valv.Piti]

Yeah, Valverde would smash those conservative cobbled classic riders and surprise them with a long range! Lol, Pisto out.

 

[Jancouver]

Re: Re:

Bakala has Guaranteed that the team will continue at least until 2020. If they fail to find sponsors he has enough money to keep the team afloat though may be at a reduced budget.

Afloat is not the same as keeping a team of expensive superstars on board..

Bakala is broke and I would not trust him at all. I don't think he got any actual profit making business in place and all the money he stole are disappearing quickly with all the bad business decisions he made over the last few years.

 

[Jagartrott]

Re: Re:

There surely can't be a better flat stretch of 'road' than the Areneberg in the cycling world. I rode it myself a couple of years ago and the photos and videos really don't do justice to how ridiculously uneven and hard to ride it is. It's become a bit of a cliche to say that, but it really is true for the Arenberg. The size, the irregularity, the sharpness of the cobbles. Plus the speed with which the riders come flying into it is just incredible - no one is in control, it's just a case of put out as much power as possible, grip the bars tightly and hope no-one falls near you. The feeling at the end when you get back onto the asphalt as well - it's like the smoothest road you'll ever ride in your life.

You definitely should not do that. Hold them loosely, and allow them to tremble and jitter a bit.

 

[El Pistolero]

Re:

Yeah, Valverde would smash those conservative cobbled classic riders and surprise them with a long range! Lol, Pisto out.

When has Valverde ever won a big race solo? Genuine question.

 

[DFA123]

Re: Re:

Yeah, Valverde would smash those conservative cobbled classic riders and surprise them with a long range! Lol, Pisto out.

When has Valverde ever won a big race solo? Genuine question.

* Eagerly awaits a ten page discussion, with the goalposts constantly changing on what constitutes a solo and a big race* :Neutral:

 

[El Pistolero]

Re: Re:

Yeah, Valverde would smash those conservative cobbled classic riders and surprise them with a long range! Lol, Pisto out.

When has Valverde ever won a big race solo? Genuine question.

* Eagerly awaits a ten page discussion, with the goalposts constantly changing on what constitutes a solo and a big race* :Neutral:

5 Monuments, 3 GTs (overall success only), the Olympic Road Race and the WC Road Race.

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Well, he sure as hell didn't win the Vuelta overall GC in a group sprint, did he?

How are you meant to win a GT GC from a group, Pisti?

 

[El Pistolero]

Re:

Well, he sure as hell didn't win the Vuelta overall GC in a group sprint, did he?

Re-watch it then.