Paris-Roubaix 2023, one day monument, April 9 (men's)

[Gratemans]

I'm btw curious about the Jumbo tactic. Will Van Baerle, Laporte and Van Hooydocnk be allowed to go on breakways.

They'd have to be batshit crazy to not let any one of those guys go on breakaways.

 

[OlavEH]

They'd have to be batshit crazy to not let any one of those guys go on breakaways.

Yeah, you're right. Maybe Van Hooydonck is the most likely. Him in a breakway with several other good cobbled riders could be the most likely way to have another winner than Van der Poel or Van Aert. I guess guys like Lampert, Stuyven, Vanmarcke, Politt, Bjerg, Ganna and more will be likely candiates for the main breakway.

 

[Gratemans]

Yeah, you're right. Maybe Van Hooydonck is the most likely. Him in a breakway with several other good cobbled riders could be the most likely way to have another winner than Van der Poel or Van Aert. I guess guys like Lampert, Stuyven, Vanmarcke, Politt, Bjerg, Ganna and more will be likely candiates for the main breakway.

And Küng, Mohoric, Pedersen. Hell, Movistar seems to be in on the classics as well nowadays, so I might as well drop Ivan Garcia's name here.

Anyway, after not bagging RVV, Van Aert wants to (and should be) their main man, despite him stating he's had a "physical and mental knock". They do that all the time at Jumbo. Those games work when you're an underdog. Not when you're one of the favourites. Like anybody is gonna let Wout ride because he said he wasn't feeling all too well. That's cute.
But this is Paris-Roubaix. Flats and mechanicals are all over the place so as a DS you want to have a plan B. Problem is, their team might be too strong. I don't think a lot of teams would be happy letting Laporte or Van Baarle go in a break either. My prediction: it's gonna be Van Hooydonk in a break once again. In that case Jumbo have a tough choice to make.

But why am I typing this anyway? It's PR, anything can and will happen. Ganna might have said it best: Paris Roubaix is just a game of Russian Roulette.

 

[Valv.Piti]

Wout should do what all great riders do in this race and that is to take the race in your own hands. Your teammates are your enemies as well if they begin to smell victory, thats how it is. Go long and see what happens, stay out of trouble and don't get locked into being the perfect teammate.

 

[StryderHells]

Recon

B&B?

 

[Sciatic]

They utilized goats to get rid of the weeds inbetween cobbles

Surprised not to see Boonen in that herd!

 

[Pantani_lives]

Only fifteen French riders are on the start list of their home country's monument. The last French winner was Guesdon in 1997. Biggest hopes for Sunday: Laporte, Turgis, Démare and Sénéchal.

 

[Andy262]

I’m still seething about my 80-1 bet on Gianni Moscon being undone by Brailsford’s lack of attention to marginal gains.

Grrrrrr.

But hey, another day of cobble madness to look forward to.

 

[SafeBet]

I’m still seething about my 80-1 bet on Gianni Moscon being undone by Brailsford’s lack of attention to marginal gains.

Grrrrrr.

But hey, another day of cobble madness to look forward to.

You can try again this Sunday. Should be a DNS today in Itzulia because he'll fly to Paris.
Can't find the odds though.

 

[Netserk]

I only watched RVV in replay, and therefore not the whole ting. Just where in the race did he crash?

Before the first ascent of Kwaremont, Maciejuk tried to move up in the peloton by riding in the gutter. As he has moved ahead, he rides into a puddle, loses control over his bike and suddenly moves sideways in front of the peloton, resulting in a big crash.

Van Aert was relatively unaffected, several other riders never reached a berg that day.

'Awful' - Most of peloton wiped out in horror crash at Tour of Flanders

Filip Maciejuk misjudged an off-road manoeuvre and it had devastating consequences at the Tour of Flanders. The Bahrain Victorious rider ran out of tarmac on his escape route, hit a puddle and veered across the front of the peloton – wiping out scores of riders. The Pole was duly disqualified...

www.eurosport.co.uk

https://twitter.com/x/status/1642547265544896515

View: https://twitter.com/vanthourenhout/status/1642547265544896515

 

[Red Rick]

I'm also interested in how the teams and riders on the pressure regulator thingy are gonna perform. Obviously the claims by stakeholders are gigantic, but if it's a small benefit it matters quite a lot in a race like Roubaix.

 

[Nick2413]

I'm also interested in how the teams and riders on the pressure regulator thingy are gonna perform. Obviously the claims by stakeholders are gigantic, but if it's a small benefit it matters quite a lot in a race like Roubaix.

I have a feeling that kind of technology is going to render PR cobbles to the equivalent of RVV cobbles or even less over time, not sure where it’s at now.

 

[Billie]

I'm also interested in how the teams and riders on the pressure regulator thingy are gonna perform. Obviously the claims by stakeholders are gigantic, but if it's a small benefit it matters quite a lot in a race like Roubaix.

It takes 20 watts of power to make it work.

It's quite likely to fall of.

No idea if wheel changes are possible with the device installed.

It adds weight to the bike and also in a unusual spot so it affects cornering.

It takes 1km of riding to add 1 bar to the tyre. So basically to go back from 2.9 bar to 6 bar it takes more than 3 km. Most times there is less than 5 kms between secteurs so when the tire is full it's time to let it down again.

So there's a lot of disadvantages also.

Only advantage I think is when you have to sprint it will be a huge advantage but than you have to get to the velodrome.

 

[Red Rick]

It takes 20 watts of power to make it work.

It's quite likely to fall of.

No idea if wheel changes are possible with the device installed.

It adds weight to the bike and also in a unusual spot so it affects cornering.

It takes 1km of riding to add 1 bar to the tyre. So basically to go back from 2.9 bar to 6 bar it takes more than 3 km. Most times there is less than 5 kms between secteurs so when the tire is full it's time to let it down again.

So there's a lot of disadvantages also.

Only advantage I think is when you have to sprint it will be a huge advantage but than you have to get to the velodrome.

I think it's unlikely they'd go back to full asphalt pressure inbetween, but the ability to go between really low and 'normal' Roubaix pressure on itself may be quite advantageous on the key secteurs. Only go full pressure in before first sector and after the penultimate sector, you can take the final meme sector on full pressure anyway.

 

[jono]

Frankly, if the technology ever improves enough to fully provide the advantages suggested here, it shouldn't be allowed. UCI has banned for far less.

 

[Nick2413]

Frankly, if the technology ever improves enough to fully provide the advantages suggested here, it shouldn't be allowed. UCI has banned for far less.

I’m all for certain types of improvements, especially for recreational riding, but when the improvements just negate what makes a parcours hard in the first place it’s a turnoff imo.

 

[Open Horizon]

It takes 20 watts of power to make it work.

It's quite likely to fall of.

No idea if wheel changes are possible with the device installed.

It adds weight to the bike and also in a unusual spot so it affects cornering.

It takes 1km of riding to add 1 bar to the tyre. So basically to go back from 2.9 bar to 6 bar it takes more than 3 km. Most times there is less than 5 kms between secteurs so when the tire is full it's time to let it down again.

So there's a lot of disadvantages also.

Only advantage I think is when you have to sprint it will be a huge advantage but than you have to get to the velodrome.

Thanks for this detailed info. It was getting rather suspicious seeing all these 90watts claims being thrown around in podcasts.

 

[Lequack]

Imagine if the race was today

https://twitter.com/x/status/1644286141636673537

View: https://twitter.com/AG2RCITROENTEAM/status/1644286141636673537?s=20

 

[Didinho]

It takes 20 watts of power to make it work.

It's quite likely to fall of.

No idea if wheel changes are possible with the device installed.

It adds weight to the bike and also in a unusual spot so it affects cornering.

It takes 1km of riding to add 1 bar to the tyre. So basically to go back from 2.9 bar to 6 bar it takes more than 3 km. Most times there is less than 5 kms between secteurs so when the tire is full it's time to let it down again.

So there's a lot of disadvantages also.

Only advantage I think is when you have to sprint it will be a huge advantage but than you have to get to the velodrome.

The extra weight is 250gr per wheel I read somewhere.

 

[Open Horizon]

Fantastic. Can 48 dry hours (including a woman's race with cars riding through the puddles) really turn all that into a dry surface? Treacherous conditions should greatly benefit VdP.

 

[Lequack]

The cobbles themselves should be dry-ish, but muddy at the sides. Which is ideal since that means riders are less likely to ride at the side.

 

[Amazinmets87]

Fantastic. Can 48 dry hours (including a woman's race with cars riding through the puddles) really turn all that into a dry surface? Treacherous conditions should greatly benefit VdP.

Saturday is forecast as partly cloudy to cloudy. Will make it more difficult for cobbles to dry. We may be in luck.

 

[proffate]

It takes 20 watts of power to make it work.

It's quite likely to fall of.

No idea if wheel changes are possible with the device installed.

It adds weight to the bike and also in a unusual spot so it affects cornering.

It takes 1km of riding to add 1 bar to the tyre. So basically to go back from 2.9 bar to 6 bar it takes more than 3 km. Most times there is less than 5 kms between secteurs so when the tire is full it's time to let it down again.

So there's a lot of disadvantages also.

Only advantage I think is when you have to sprint it will be a huge advantage but than you have to get to the velodrome.

To me it makes far less sense than adding a little bit of suspension to the frame, with a lockout if you're really worried about how it affects your riding on tarmac (which you needn't be).

That said, I don't agree with most of your litany of disadvantages. The only real drawback is that it's one more thing that can go wrong e.g. the hose breaking loose in a crash.

 

[Lequack]

In some pics top part of cobbles is already dry-ish, some parts it's still all wet

 

[tobydawq]

It takes 20 watts of power to make it work.

It's quite likely to fall of.

No idea if wheel changes are possible with the device installed.

It adds weight to the bike and also in a unusual spot so it affects cornering.

It takes 1km of riding to add 1 bar to the tyre. So basically to go back from 2.9 bar to 6 bar it takes more than 3 km. Most times there is less than 5 kms between secteurs so when the tire is full it's time to let it down again.

So there's a lot of disadvantages also.

Only advantage I think is when you have to sprint it will be a huge advantage but than you have to get to the velodrome.

Thanks for this run-down.