Paris-Roubaix: “For me there will be more falls”, the chicane installed on the course is not unanimous


Lionel Gougelot (correspondent in the North) / Photo credit: FRANÇOIS LO PRESTI / AFP

The cycling world is still in shock. The impressive fall, involving, among others, the double winner of the Tour de France, Jonas Vingegaard, or the Belgian Remco Evenepoel, during the Tour of the Basque Country on Thursday, pushed the leaders of the Paris-Roubaix race to act. The route of this route, which must take place on Sunday, has been modified in order to increase the safety of the runners. Particularly around the famous Trouée d’Arenberg, a section of paved road. A chicane was thus installed to slow down the race, based on the Formula 1 model.

Thierry Gouvenou, race director, wants to believe that this right turn, followed by another sharp left turn, will allow this sector to be approached with greater safety. “The runners suffer a lot of falls, they are a little on edge, so this request, here in Arenberg, seems completely logical to me. I was personally a runner, I did this gap 12 times and each time, I was like, ‘How am I going to get out of this?’

“It will rub a lot”

The device, which attracted many curious people this Friday morning during the recognition of the teams, does not seem to be unanimous among the runners. Mathieu Van der Poel, the big favorite, believes that this chicane will make the race even more dangerous. This is also the opinion of Stéphane, an amateur runner, used to these cobblestones. “I know the area well. It’s better to arrive at 60km/h in the gap, because most of the falls happen in the middle of the gap and not on the entrance. But there, they will all want to position themselves, there including the leaders. It’s going to be a lot of friction and, for me, there will be more falls, it’s obligatory.”

This modification of the route will also require adjustments to guarantee the safety of spectators. A problem according to Salvatore Castiglione, the mayor of the town of Wallers. “We must not forget that there are a lot of people, sometimes we reach 10,000 spectators here. We must therefore ensure that everyone has fun. So we must combine the two.” Whatever happens, this chicane should not give lie to the legend which says that you cannot win the Paris-Roubaix in Arenberg, but that you can, however, lose it on this gap.





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