Paris - Roubaix 2024, one day monument, April 7

[Ricco']

Utter professionalism...

"People talked me about over the year"
"Speak with the riders I knew would race"
"Talked with DS of teams I couldn't reach in Flanders (one week before the event)"
"Tried to keep it a secret in order to few people know about it, which begs the question if ASO, probably one of the most relevant stakeholders, know anything about the proposed change until it became talked about in the media" - who knew what they could have done if they knew, imagine if they could come up with another solution that wasn't a Mulsanne chicane from aliexpress if were given the proper time to plan it.

Unfortunately Adam Hansen only knew that Arenberg would be raced in the past weeks, which prevented him from doing something in the months leading up to the event.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1775601415798276236

View: https://twitter.com/HansenAdam/status/1775601415798276236?t=nKoSqXCthSmIIgNGu3BIfg&s=19

 

[repre]

Utter professionalism...

"People talked me about over the year"
"Speak with the riders I knew would race"
"Talked with DS of teams I couldn't reach in Flanders (one week before the event)"
"Tried to keep it a secret in order to few people know about it, which begs the question if ASO, probably one of the most relevant stakeholders, know anything about the proposed change until it became talked about in the media" - who knew what they could have done if they knew, imagine if they could come up with another solution that wasn't a Mulsanne chicane from aliexpress if were given the proper time to plan it.

Unfortunately Adam Hansen only knew that Arenberg would be raced in the past weeks, which prevented him from doing something in the months leading up to the event.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1775601415798276236

View: https://twitter.com/HansenAdam/status/1775601415798276236?t=nKoSqXCthSmIIgNGu3BIfg&s=19

Hansen didn't know Van der Poel would like to race Roubaix??? What a liar

 

[awavey]

I really don't get the problem with that chicane. Sure, there could happen a crash there, but it would happen at very low speed. The chicane is not dangerous at all, however much of a bottleneck it might be.

The location of the railway track is not ideal, I get that.

Im still wondering where the car that appeared at warp speed disappeared to.

a low speed crash into a metal barrier is going to hurt plenty, plus we might also see crashes like we had at the Tour de France femmes a few years a go, a whole bunch of riders come to a complete stop it concertinas up and some charlie comes piling into the back of them all at full speed because they werent paying attention or braked in time.

it wont take a group of many riders, and only one unclipping or not getting their line right around it to cause mayhem there, they will be tired at this point, tired brains make poor decisions.

but I think the bigger issue is its concertinas up groups of riders going into Arenberg, and most crashes Ive seen on Arenberg have been because youve had too many riders fighting for the same space, its supposedly one of the reasons why they wont let the women ride it, because their route isnt selective enough to whittle a group of riders down to a safer level, they always been worried theyd turn up in too big a group, well now they are creating the conditions to absolutely ensure the men keep hitting it in bigger compressed groups.

 

[titan31]

That entrance looks far worse now. Hansen being an utter ass for the sport again. He should go back to just riding around at the back of the peleton, bloody no talent hack.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Utter professionalism...

"People talked me about over the year"
"Speak with the riders I knew would race"
"Talked with DS of teams I couldn't reach in Flanders (one week before the event)"
"Tried to keep it a secret in order to few people know about it, which begs the question if ASO, probably one of the most relevant stakeholders, know anything about the proposed change until it became talked about in the media" - who knew what they could have done if they knew, imagine if they could come up with another solution that wasn't a Mulsanne chicane from aliexpress if were given the proper time to plan it.

Unfortunately Adam Hansen only knew that Arenberg would be raced in the past weeks, which prevented him from doing something in the months leading up to the event.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1775601415798276236

View: https://twitter.com/HansenAdam/status/1775601415798276236?t=nKoSqXCthSmIIgNGu3BIfg&s=19

In Adam Hansen' swords : The riders I couldn't reach out to, I spoke to their DSs when I was in Flanders and asked them to speak to their riders. Normally, we have channels to 1 rider in each team. I didn't use this communication because it only involved the riders at that race, and we wanted as little people to know about this until it's official with ASO

 

[MJR]

Positively moronic decision. Let's hope it doesn't have too much of an effect on the race.

 

[ManicJack]

Hansen being an utter ass for the sport again. He should go back to just riding around at the back of the peleton, bloody no talent hack.

Maybe the CPA needs their own thread. I wonder how much money they have paid out to retired riders to help them transition into their next career? My guess is zero.

 

[CyclistAbi]

Speed should get reduced, entering the cobbles, the question is on who can survive getting through the chicane. As the way it looks its function is the one of the wall. That is you hit in it with high speed and hence you become slower.

The idea seems right, not sure about the execution. Likely it would make more sense to build some sort of artificial speed reduction barrier beforehand, then to use the only existing one that looks kind of scary in the sense of eliminating you to save you from the cobbles.

 

[Scarponi]

If safety if their main responsibility why isn’t the Arenberg removed all together? Every year someone gets hurt there

 

[ManicJack]

If safety if their main responsibility why isn’t the Arenberg removed all together? Every year someone gets hurt there

Adam Hansen has only been on an ego trip for less than 2 years. Give him time.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

Wouldn't being from the South mean you have a couch...on the porch?

And a 1976 Camaro with no wheels, on cinder blocks, in the front yard.

 

[Izzyeviel]

If safety if their main responsibility why isn’t the Arenberg removed all together? Every year someone gets hurt there

Meanwhile in Australia: 'hey lads, hear me out: The Adam 260. Like paris-roubaix, but in the interests of safety, its 260 laps around Roubaix velodrome. It's not butchering history because the race hasn't started in paris for decades now. It can start anywhere. Obviously we'll have to call the whole thing off if its overcast due to the possibility of rain...'

 

[Extinction]

How is this just now becoming a problem, when everyone is on 32mm tires or bigger, but it wasn't a problem 1cm ago?

it's those damn hookless rims I tell ya

It's just indicative of this generation's obsession with safety and making things "politically correct".

 

[Nick2413]

The problem with general consensus is it’s real easy to get a majority when 140 of 160 riders aren’t competing for the win. Ask the top 20 favorites and get a consensus there for starters, then go to all the other stakeholders.

This is probably a relative nothingburger but the logic of safety-fying every part of the sport at increasing rates is concerning.

 

[jono]

It's just indicative of this generation's obsession with safety and making things "politically correct".

I can think of few sports less safe and politically correct than professional road cycling.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

I don't think this is that big of a deal. Sure, it takes away one place that has accumulated several rims, bikes, knee caps, and other broken bones, which is part of the racing history, but I don't think it will come near to making the race horrible to watch. That will be MvdP's fault.

 

[Extinction]

If safety if their main responsibility why isn’t the Arenberg removed all together? Every year someone gets hurt there

Because it's PR, a particular race for particular riders. Danger and suspense are the essence of "the Hell of the North". It just comes with the territory. The riders need to change, not the course. Arenberg has been entered at high speed for decades, but only now safety is the primary concern? I'd say this has to do with this generation, or guys like Hansen at any rate (but if he's in his position it's only indicative of a wider trend), and not the race. Sooner or later PR won't be held at all, if this keeps up.

 

[Extinction]

I can think of few sports less safe and politically correct than professional road cycling.

Right, it's a sport from another era. But the obliterators will change it with their obliterating ways, just give them time. By then I won't be watching anymore, so who cares?

 

[Izzyeviel]

I don't think this is that big of a deal. Sure, it takes away one place that has accumulated several rims, bikes, knee caps, and other broken bones, which is part of the racing history, but I don't think it will come near to making the race horrible to watch. That will be MvdP's fault.

Its a perfectly sensible idea. The problem is that chicane is not fit for purpose. You've replaced one danger with something more likely to cause a crash.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

Its a perfectly sensible idea. The problem is that chicane is not fit for purpose. You've replaced one danger with something more likely to cause a crash.

I understand that. The danger moved from a crash that took down fewer people to a crash that could take down half of the peloton...but I think they will likely navigate the chicane perfectly fine, and let the race happen later, which is where it has been happening, mostly, in the last few years, anyway. It's been awhile since the race was won on the Arenberg. Sure, it whittles down the contenders, but it isn't the decisive sector.

 

[red_flanders]

It's just indicative of this generation's obsession with safety and making things "politically correct".

Safety obsession, yes, sure, with ya...but...politically correct? Are they renaming the act of entering the "Arenberg Trench" to something less suggestive?

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

Safety obsession, yes, sure, with ya...but...politically correct? Are they renaming the act of entering the "Arenberg Trench" to something less suggestive?

Arneberg Fissure

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

...waiting for the first comment to suggest that this is the Arenberg Forest going woke...or communist...or socialist...

 

[Extinction]

Safety obsession, yes, sure, with ya...but...politically correct? Are they renaming the "Arenberg Trench" to something less suggestive?

I meant that, of course (having put it in quotation marks), as a metaphor, in the sense of demanding something be changed because some find it offensive to their moral sensibilities (in this case over "safety", which seems to have become the modern obsession). Can you image asking to make the Arenberg entrance "safer" in the De Vlaeminck-Moser era? I simply can't. Hell, they didn't even wear helmets!

 

[Extinction]

...waiting for the first comment to suggest that this is the Arenberg Forest going woke...or communist...or socialist...

Don't be ridiculous.