Paris - Roubaix 2024, one day monument, April 7

[Nick2413]

If the chicane is considered a success this year, can we expect them to move on to other sections of the course next year? It wouldn’t really make sense to stop there, it’s not like safety discussions are going to stop so why not move on to the next most dangerous sector?

 

[Escarabajo]

How did option 1 look like?

 

[Lequack]

What about a sand section before Arensberg?

 

[Extinction]

If as we believe it has only become a "problem since DDV, maybe time was an issue.

But equally if the PR is one of the biggest sporting events in France, in what reality is a narrow uturn surrounded by metal barriers a fix either ?

I'd say through some tarmac and pitch in it and carry on, if feasable. As to your question, a strange reality for sure.

 

[Escarabajo]

Instead of the chicane, why wouldn't they just make the entrance a bit less dangerous for 300m? Get the cobbles out of the ground, and put them back in properly, but just for 300m. This would make sure that chance of crashing at 60km/h is a lot less, while also slowing them down a bit once the real shitty cobbles start.

The problem with this solution was probably timing.

 

[Extinction]

What about a sand section before Arensberg?

Or sand bags.

 

[Extinction]

Even before it’s been raced, the chicane, which is more strictly a 180-degree U-turn, has sparked multiple, and varied, arguments both for and against it. Defending Paris-Roubaix champion Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) recently posted a pointed single-line ‘Is this a joke?’ reaction on Twitter, formerly X, to make their feelings plain.



The American’s post, though, is markedly in favour, saying via a post on the same social media network : "Is this what fans want to see? Riders completely covered in blood after sliding face-first at 50mph/80kph on sharp rocks in a forest? I’ll take a couple of turns and some guys sliding out on pavement any day…"

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbBiXPVKuTA

 

[Max Rockatansky]

https://velo.outsideonline.com/road...lestones-caked-in-mud-ahead-of-weekend-races/

"This is after some cleaning"! 20C on Sunday? Phew ...

https://twitter.com/x/status/1775827346336981072

View: https://twitter.com/Dylandelpl02/status/1775827346336981072


Looking good.

 

[Armchair Cyclist]

Chicanes or no chicanes, I don't care!
For the first time ever I am just setting off for a weekend watching Paris Poubaix by the roadside.

Would you be available to stand in the middle of Av. Michel Rondet, just before the level crossing, in an inflatable sumo outfit?

 

[Berniece]

For non dutch speakers you have to translate it, but Hansen give an extra explanation on why they eventually landed on this solution.

Option 1 - Not possible due to pothole
Option 2 - Residential area, with too many gutters
Option 3 - The only other option

Hoe kwam de Roubaix-chicane tot stand? Deze 3 opties lagen op tafel: "Alles beter dan originele parcours" | sporza

Voor of tegen, logisch of absurd: de chicane in Parijs-Roubaix beroert de tongen van iedereen die er iets mee te maken heeft. Nochtans kwam de roep naar een gewijzigde aanloop voor het Bos van Wallers er op vraag van de renners zelf. Dus verdedigt Adam Hansen het ommetje. "Het kan een game...

sporza.be

 

[Wvv]

For non dutch speakers you have to translate it, but Hansen give an extra explanation on why they eventually landed on this solution.

Option 1 - Not possible due to pothole
Option 2 - Residential area, with too many gutters
Option 3 - The only other option

Hoe kwam de Roubaix-chicane tot stand? Deze 3 opties lagen op tafel: "Alles beter dan originele parcours" | sporza

Voor of tegen, logisch of absurd: de chicane in Parijs-Roubaix beroert de tongen van iedereen die er iets mee te maken heeft. Nochtans kwam de roep naar een gewijzigde aanloop voor het Bos van Wallers er op vraag van de renners zelf. Dus verdedigt Adam Hansen het ommetje. "Het kan een game...

sporza.be

Should've kept the parcours this year like it was and made sure that option 1 was well prepared for the next edition.

 

[Berniece]

Should've kept the parcours this year like it was and made sure that option 1 was well prepared for the next edition.

I don't understand why option 1 isn't possible. It's a decision of money mostly.

 

[Izzyeviel]

I don't understand why option 1 isn't possible. It's a decision of money mostly.

money, would take time to renovate the road, and its owned by the museum - they might not appreciate a cycling event going past their front door & you would need to remove the security barriers for the race.

 

[awavey]

What about a sand section before Arensberg?

Well I was thinking how about use the railway tracks, use them toput in some cyclocross 2 by 4 planks of wood style barriers to bunny hop 😉

 

[Ricco']

money, would take time to renovate the road, and its owned by the museum - they might not appreciate a cycling event going past their front door & you would need to remove the security barriers for the race.

This option would also make it impossible to access the parking lot where the spectators can park their car, as the only point of entry is by that part of the road.

With proper time, the road could be fixed and could be created another access point to the parking lot through the main road, if the local authorities want to do it.

 

[Extinction]

[content deleted]

I've thankfully never thought of therapy to spare the therapist, lad. You, like she, are hung up on a posteriori experience, rather than a priori knowledge. They are different.

 

[Extinction]

You've extrapolated a tension in a philosophical context, into the development of safety measures...it's laughable, actually. It appears to only serve your need to aggrandize yourself in a public manner, for a psychological need that is more transparent that you appear to understand.

I'm just here to chat. 😅

 

[Extinction]

[Deleted content]

Oh, come on, she got bogged down in the morass of dogmatism and then belittled me for bringing in (God forbid) all that old school stuff. I quite like her, but wanted to, you know, just mess around a bit. She gave it back admirably.

 

[RedheadDane]

[Deleted content]

He just thinks knowledge is some kind of eternal thing that people can never gain more of...

 

[Extinction]

He just thinks knowledge is some kind of eternal thing that people can never gain more of...

In so far as knowledge drives technological developments, but we remain completely ignorant of that which lies beyond the limits of knowledge itself.

 

[Extinction]

[Deleted content]

I agree with all but people having a "bloodlust...for riders endangering themselves on cobbles". I don't think anyone likes to see carneage on the pavé and hopes every rider makes it to the finish unsacathed.

I honestly think with the performance science behind riders and equipment, the level of glorification of athletes today and the economic demands placed on them, together is making the sport just insane. There are too many crashes. In 42 years following the sport, I've never seen all the main contenders go down at once with diasterous effect. Something needs to change.

 

[ChewbaccaDefense]

I agree with all but people having a "bloodlust...for riders endangering themselves on cobbles". I don't think anyone likes to see carneage on the pavé and hopes every rider makes it to the finish unsacathed.

I honestly think with the performance science behind riders and equipment, the level of glorification of athletes today and the economic demands placed on them, together is making the sport just insane. There are too many crashes. In 42 years following the sport, I've never seen all the main contenders go down at once with diasterous effect. Something needs to change.

I'm only 31 years in, and I've also never seen anything like what happened today.

 

[Volderke]

Sporza interview with Gouvenou explaining how they decided pro-chicane:

At the last minute, ASO tinkered with the Paris-Roubaix course, but the artificial bends just before the Forest of Wallers encountered resistance. Thierry Gouvenou, course designer for organizer ASO, emphasizes that this is a temporary measure, but on the other hand he realizes well enough that there is also a guarantee of hectic events on Sunday.

Thierry Gouvenou (54) designs the Paris-Roubaix route on behalf of ASO and a few days ago came up with a fairground attraction just in front of the largest playground of the cobblestone classic: a chicane just before the Forest of Wallers.

"I had a conversation with CPA (the riders' union) last Friday," the Frenchman explains in an interview with our editors. "They asked us to think about how we could reduce the speed for the Forest. A kind of psychosis had developed in the peloton in recent weeks."

Gouvenou says he studied 3 options on the spot. "Due to the limited time, we couldn't do too much. So this is a temporary intervention that we can improve. We know the best solution, but that requires road works and you can't do that in 3 to 4 days."

That ideal world is located on the left along the traditional access road, where the parking lot of the mine site is located. "That is a lot more natural, but it takes time to achieve that. Along that route you have the last bend before the railway crossing, not after it. And the last bend is 60 to 80 meters before the Forest."

"We have now opted for a solution that is not super smooth, but that does have a value today and that responds to the aspirations of the riders' union."

A battlefield
Thierry Gouvenou shows understanding for the controversy, but points out a more general problem. "The speed has been skyrocketing in recent years. You rode Paris-Roubaix for years at an average of 43 km/h, now we are going to 47 km/h."

"That 10 percent increases the risk of falls and the severity of those crashes. I therefore call on all parties to sit around the table together and see how we can reduce the speed. Because now it is a battlefield."

Such scenes are therefore not unthinkable on Sunday. "That's right," Gouvenou nods, "and I also told the union that. I informed them that the bend is very perpendicular and that there will be sudden braking."

"The last riders run the risk of falling or of putting their foot on the ground. But it has been decided that it is preferable to fall that way than to have something like that happen at high speed on cobblestones. But that is the situation we are in”

Mathieu van der Poel, last year's winner in Hel, expressed his reservations. "But I know he has spoken to people I know and he himself is convinced that you should reduce the speed."

"He also knows that this is not the best solution and I share that opinion. I will now work for a year to find a better alternative."

Cutting into the Forest in the opposite direction is not an option? "My predecessors tested that, but it was not satisfactory."

"If you take that approach route, you have about 25 kilometers without cobblestones. That is a guarantee of a grouped peloton at the gate of Arenberg."

"With the current route you reduce the size of the group. So I prefer a succession of strips just before the Forest."

But Gouvenou again predicts that there will also be cases on Sunday. "I look at the race every day and every day there are falls. And not just on narrow roads, also on wide passages."

 

[staubsauger]

Speed has simply gone so high with aerodynamics, nutrition and medication nowadays. Hence why crashes are much more severe nowadays.

The riders have zero protection from hurting themselves due to the higher psychical powers.

 

[RedheadDane]

Maybe him not demeaning a woman in a a sexist and ageist manner would have been a better place to stop.

Oh, I'm cool with him calling me young, much better than the people who insist on calling me old.