Why is Paris-Roubaix the hardest of all cycle races?

[PaPong]

Realistically it's not harder than riding a grand tour and being competitive. It might be the toughest single day but it can't possibly take more out of you than racing every day for 3 weeks. Are people really suggesting this?

"It might be the toughest single day" -this is what It is one day in the hell

 

[PaPong]

He won't start because he is 46 years old and retired 14 years ago.

he has 46 years old ? it is impossible

 

[PaPong]

Of course more people will give up in Roubaix than will give up the Tour. Roubaix is a one-day race. Once it's over for you, it's over. Some riders will continue for the honour of completing it, but many riders will just abandon once there's nothing in it for them to continue anymore. In the Tour, there's always tomorrow - you could fall away and be left behind by the specialists, have a bad day etc., but you can still salvage something from the race by staying in it and looking for a breakaway, a stage win, a secondary jersey etc.. Stage races have a number of secondary awards which riders can target; in a one-day race there is only "really" the win (a lot of smaller ones have mountains prizes etc., but they are more or less irrelevant).

Dante wrote that above the gate to hell is the inscription: Abandon all hope

there is no tomorrow, no hope, no Paris

 

[nhowson]

Why do you suppose that is? Could it be because it has nothing to do with the one single topic you have any interest in discussing?

Is it not enough that you can't stop talking about the same cyclist constantly but do you actually have to come in and bash threads that you can't find a reason to talk about him in? Please be respectful of the fact that Cycling is about more than one cyclist and the races he can win.

So who here is bringing that cyclist up?

 

[happytramp]

So who here is bringing that cyclist up?

Nobody it seems. I thought people were bashing the thread and the OP for no reason but it turns out I was wrong.

 

[Archibald]

Realistically it's not harder than riding a grand tour and being competitive. It might be the toughest single day but it can't possibly take more out of you than racing every day for 3 weeks. Are people really suggesting this?

is a GT contender 'racing' every day for 3 weeks? or do they sit-in for periods at a time, even days?
there is no rest at Roubaix - as was pointed out in Echoes excellent post - no descents to recover, no real soft sections to take it easy on. It is balls out all the way, and the cobblestones are no neat packaging such as at RvV.
I've ridden them and they are brutal - first time I rode the course it took about a month for my wrists and hands to recover*



* granted, I've never done a GT, so can't comment on the level of recovery needed afterwards

 

[nhowson]

Nobody it seems. I thought people were bashing the thread and the OP for no reason but it turns out I was wrong.

Oh no, people disagree with something said on the internet!

I actually agree with OP.

 

[the delgados]

Did someone say Paris-Roubaix?
Man, I love that race so much that I recently fulfilled a dream by flying overseas just to watch the race live and in person.
Walking into the velodrome seemed so surreal after spending years looking at photos in cycling magazines. (Even more surreal was leaving the velodrome after the race and encountering a robbery mere blocks away, but that's another story.)
Anyway, I even managed to hold my tongue when Phil Liggett walked by hours before the riders entered the velodrome.
Friends of mine who knew nothing about cycling still talk about the experience.
To whomever started this thread: Thanks for providing yet another opportunity for me to rave about the hell of the north.

 

[The Hitch]

A good Dolomite stage >>> Paris Roubaix.

And no surprise to see echoes continues to ignore that Wiggins on countless other occasions said the TDF was bigger than Paris Roubaix, and clings to the one occasion where wiggins said the reverse as if that in itself proves the ridiculous assertion that PR is in the same league as Le grand boucle.

Also funny that he relies on someone who's claim to fame is winning a TDF - a race he doesn't even aknowledge, to make his point.

But if we need quotes from TDF winners to back up our arguments, here is Contador testifying to the brutality of Dolomite stages

http://www.elmundo.es/blogs/deportes/escapa-dos/2011/05/30/gardeccia-en-el-corazon.html

 

[Flamin]

But if we need quotes from TDF winners to back up our arguments, here is Contador testifying to the brutality of Dolomite stages

http://www.elmundo.es/blogs/deportes/escapa-dos/2011/05/30/gardeccia-en-el-corazon.html

Where exactly is Contador quoted here?

 

[TANK91]

Not this again, good luck seeing these cobble riders win the TDF, Wiggins winning Roubaix on the other hand does not sound too silly. I mean Tony Martin would destroy Roubaix if he tried you just need a good engine. You don't have to have a good sprint, Cancellara proved that. LBL is harder.


Greipel and Cavendish could more than likely win Roubaix(especially the joke version of this year)

 

[TANK91]

A good Dolomite stage >>> Paris Roubaix.

And no surprise to see echoes continues to ignore that Wiggins on countless other occasions said the TDF was bigger than Paris Roubaix, and clings to the one occasion where wiggins said the reverse as if that in itself proves the ridiculous assertion that PR is in the same league as Le grand boucle.

Also funny that he relies on someone who's claim to fame is winning a TDF - a race he doesn't even aknowledge, to make his point.

But if we need quotes from TDF winners to back up our arguments, here is Contador testifying to the brutality of Dolomite stages

http://www.elmundo.es/blogs/deportes/escapa-dos/2011/05/30/gardeccia-en-el-corazon.html

So true Wiggins liked Roubaix as he had no choice he was such a idiot after he won the TDF and burned too many bridges

 

[damian13ster]

Not this again, good luck seeing these cobble riders win the TDF, Wiggins winning Roubaix on the other hand does not sound too silly. I mean Tony Martin would destroy Roubaix if he tried you just need a good engine. You don't have to have a good sprint, Cancellara proved that. LBL is harder.


Greipel and Cavendish could more than likely win Roubaix(especially the joke version of this year)

If Wiggins wins Roubaix is he a GT rider still or cobble rider?
Basically your logic is: Roubaix winner cant win TdF but TdF winner can win Roubaix? Arent those mutually inclusive?
Try seeing any mountain goats compete on cobbles, meanwhile cobbles riders do compete and complete TdF

 

[TANK91]

If Wiggins wins Roubaix is he a GT rider still or cobble rider?
Basically your logic is: Roubaix winner cant win TdF but TdF winner can win Roubaix? Arent those mutually inclusive?
Try seeing any mountain goats compete on cobbles, meanwhile cobbles riders do compete and complete TdF

Thing is so many people can win Roubaix, Cav, Greipel, Kwaitkowski and Wiggins so many different sort of riders, yet Cancellara could not win the TDF or Cav, Greipel and Degenkolb. I agree an onform Cancellara would be almost impossible to beat but this year was like a train it was very easy. Cav could have contended this years Roubaix.

 

[nhowson]

Thing is so many people can win Roubaix, Cav, Greipel, Kwaitkowski and Wiggins so many different sort of riders, yet Cancellara could not win the TDF or Cav, Greipel and Degenkolb. I agree an onform Cancellara would be almost impossible to beat but this year was like a train it was very easy. Cav could have contended this years Roubaix.

Doesn't that make it harder, not easier? A greater field of potential winners means a much lower chance of winning for an individual rider. That's mathematical logic anyway, maybe not CN logic.

 

[Jspear]

If Wiggins wins Roubaix is he a GT rider still or cobble rider?
Basically your logic is: Roubaix winner cant win TdF but TdF winner can win Roubaix? Arent those mutually inclusive?
Try seeing any mountain goats compete on cobbles, meanwhile cobbles riders do compete and complete TdF

What do you mean when you say cobble riders compete in the TdF? Do you mean they compete for GC or they compete in certain stages....there is a big difference. Pure light climbers don't compete in Roubaix because it is one day of racing that doesn't suit them at all. On the other hand cobble riders can ride in the Tour and be competitive on maybe half the stages because a gt is for more than just the "mountain goats." There are flat and hilly stages as well as tt's. There are only some riders who have competed for the GC in both PR and a GT (such as Wiggo.) I think it becoming less common as riders seem to become more "specialized" in their respective disciplines.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Thing is so many people can win Roubaix, Cav, Greipel, Kwaitkowski and Wiggins so many different sort of riders, yet Cancellara could not win the TDF or Cav, Greipel and Degenkolb. I agree an onform Cancellara would be almost impossible to beat but this year was like a train it was very easy. Cav could have contended this years Roubaix.

Cavendish and Greipel will never contend Paris-Roubaix. Paris-Roubaix never ends in a bunch sprint. Just because there are sprinters in he end of the race like Degenkolb, Kristoff and Boonen doesn't mean any sprinter can contend for the win. Most sprinters struggle to compete in 250km and most of them struggle to do anything except sit in the bunch and sprint at the end. Degenkolb, Kristoff and Boonen are all exceptionally tough sprinters with a decent engine; so they can participate in 250km races and they can race a bit if they have to. That's why you see them in the end of all tough flat races; MSR, RVV, PR but also at tough flat GT stages.

To compete in PR you need at least the following capabilities;
1) endurance be competitive ater 250km
2) good bike handling skills for the cobbles
3) a big engine; to be able to keep a high pace for a long time without rest because the finale starts with 60km out and there are no descents
4) you can't be too lightweight
5) you need good tactical wit; the race is much less controlled so you have to know which moves to cover

Cavendish is severely lacking in 3) and hasn't shown anything in 2) an 5). Greipel is severely lacking in everything except 4). Tony Martin whom you also mentioned is severely lacking in 1), 2) and 5).

Boonen and Cancellara on the other excel in all of these and have therefore dominated Paris-Roubaix in recent years. They both become better with the kilometers. They both have excellent skills on the cobbles. Cancellara is one of the best TTists in the world. Boonen hasn't focused on TTing, but if we'd have 100km TT's on roadbikes; I would put my money on Boonen. Both of them are >80kg. Both of them have displayed the capability to read a race.

I think that more or less every cyclist who has these talents has Paris-Roubaix as the main goal for their season, or at least one of their main goals.

 

[cineteq]

To compete in PR you need at least the following capabilities;
1) endurance be competitive ater 250km
2) good bike handling skills for the cobbles
3) a big engine; to be able to keep a high pace for a long time without rest because the finale starts with 60km out and there are no descents
4) you can't be too lightweight
5) you need good tactical wit; the race is much less controlled so you have to know which moves to cover

Vansummeren won thanks, in part, to teamwork. Does he comply with those capabilities?

 

[Netserk]

Vansummeren won thanks, in part, to teamwork. Does he comply with those capabilities?

Yes he does. He has also made the final selection (the hard way) before his victory.

 

[Scott SoCal]

Thanks OP. I love Paris-Roubaix. Flanders and Roubaix are, by far, the best two racing days of the year.

IMO, if you have ever ridden the stones at pace, Arenberg, Orchies, Mons en pevele, Camphin en Pevele, Carrefour.... then you understand how difficult it is to maintain pace. Then you throw in corners basically on a surface as slippery as glass then you have to try and accelerate with brute force, seated, low rpm, over and over and over.

The 2014 P-R Challenge did the entire course from Busigny, France. 28 pave sectors and it was really, really hard. 28 five to six minute intervals spread over 5.5 hours on a road bike with 28mm tires inflated to about 80psi. Off the stones you feel like you are riding in the grass and on the stones the amount of effort it take to ride the tops of the stones is exhausting. When I got to the velodrome in Roubaix I was shattered.

How the pros are actually racing at the end is amazing.

 

[Maaaaaaaarten]

For me, my only reference point for cycling myself are flat cobbled sections in the Flemish Ardennes, but taking that reference point and then imagining the pro's having to do far worse cobbled sections and a lot of them and in a race situation I'm quite amazed indeed!

I mean, the first time I rode (or rather crawled) up one of those crazy steep cobbled climbs, I think for me it was the Kemmelberg, I felt like 'wtf am I doing riding on a 20% cobbled section on a race bike?!' The first time I rode over a flat cobbled section and mind you I'm not claiming that the flat cobbled section I did was harder than the Kemmelberg or the Koppenberg or whatever, but the first time I did a flat cobbled section I had the exact same feeling; 'wtf am I doing riding a race bike on this type of road?!' So when I think about the amount of kilometers those pro riders have to face on far worse cobbles I can't help but feel they deserve a mighty amount of respect for riding the hell of the north each year! (although from my reference point it's more like the hell of the south, but alas )

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

Take a day off, and go riding the PR cobbles Maarten, you won't regret it.

You can't compare it with the Flemish cobbles at all. Even the Paddenstraat before the reconstruction works is a walk in the park by reference.
Holleweg might be the closest one we have, and still it would only be a 2 or 3 star section in Roubaix!

 

[gustienordic]

I'm curious which would be the ultimate worst day of racing:

PR in freezing rain (perhaps even snow ) or

Zoncolan/Angrilu in 90 degree heat after bonking

 

[Buffalo Soldier]

PR, no single doubt. Even an easy race as Kuurne becomes absolute hell in terrible weather conditions.

And as I explained earlier: whatever mountain you take, you can always put on some MTB gear, and take it extremely slow. This doesn't work on cobbles however: riding them more slow doesn't make it easier at all!

 

[TANK91]

PR, no single doubt. Even an easy race as Kuurne becomes absolute hell in terrible weather conditions.

And as I explained earlier: whatever mountain you take, you can always put on some MTB gear, and take it extremely slow. This doesn't work on cobbles however: riding them more slow doesn't make it easier at all!

I know what would tyre me out and it would not be going slow over cobbles it would be going slow up the Zoncolon