“It was as if we had removed the cobblestones at Paris-Roubaix. » Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle still suffers from it. Between 1986 and 1988, the “hell of the North” had as its last ordeal a banal strip of bitumen. Avenue des Nations unies, in front of the headquarters of La Redoute – sponsor of the event – Sean Kelly, Eric Vanderaerden and the unexpected Dirk Demol raised their arms. But, without the final meters on the Roubaix velodrome and its concrete track, the “magic was gone” for the Béarnais, in love with the event, still rejected at the time.
This Sunday, April 17, and after 257.5 kilometers, the queen of the classics will once again have the André-Pétrieux ring, named after a former municipal councilor and bistro owner. Open to the sky, the place has, since 2012, a more modern (and covered) neighbour, the Jean-Stablinski velodrome. The latter serves as a press center and leaves the spotlight to its eldest for a Sunday in the year (and, since 2021, a Saturday with the creation of a women’s edition). For an epilogue from another time.
Indeed, cycling hasn’t been going around in circles since the 1970s. At the time, track finishes went out of fashion. In 1973, Liège-Bastogne-Liège abandoned the Rocourt velodrome, and, twelve years later, the Tour of Lombardy said goodbye to the mythical Vigorelli of Milan. “The spirit of the times has engulfed the geography of velodromes. Today, the first has become a cinema, and the second hosts American football matches”explains the journalist Laurent Galinon.
In his book Classics (Hugo Sport, 334 pages, 19.95 euros), this Béarnais recounts the five monuments of cycling (Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Tour of Lombardy) through their champions, but above all their places, objects of fetishism. “At the end of the 1970s, the Roubaix velodrome was in a deplorable state.relocates Laurent Galinon. The French riders are non-existent, and the public is made up of 90% Flemings who came to encourage Roger De Vlaeminck”the four-time winner of the event.
“Spell”
Jean-Marie Leblanc saw exile on the avenue des Nations unies as “a stab in the tradition”. In 1988, the Northerner signed a fiery text in The Team for a return to André-Pétrieux. The former runner still pierces under the pen of the journalist. “I finished two Paris-Roubaix on the velodrome and I knew how rare it was, so precioushe said. I had a hard time when my predecessors moved the finish in front of La Redoute for commercial reasons. »
In October of the same year, Jean-Marie Leblanc was appointed director of the Tour de France company, organizer of the classic. From 1989, he put his writings into action. “We had to fight to carry out the necessary renovation work and make elected officials aware that this was their city’s heritage. » A heritage first destroyed in 1924 and rebuilt in 1936. The race returned there in 1943 and saw the Belgian Marcel Kint put his name on the list before returning to his home in Kortrijk by bike. Since then, the velodrome has exercised its magic, but also its “spell”.
The most skilful and fierce on the cobblestones can lose everything on this 500-meter track to be covered one and a half times, or 750 meters. “On a track, the laws of physics are no longer the same with the inclination. You have to be smart, opportunistic and instinctive, but there is time to procrastinate. This is what I call the “velodrome spell”theorizes Laurent Galinon. In 2016, Tom Boonen will beat De Vlaeminck’s record of victories, but he has wobbly legs and gets caught by Mathew Hayman. »
The Belgian still has his four victories to console himself. Others remain forever accursed of the velodrome. There is a Steve Bauer beaten for the thickness of half a gut by Eddy Planckaert (1990), a Sep Vanmarcke and his liters of tears spilled after his second place behind Fabian Cancellara (2013)… Or this story Franco-French from 1997.
Black hair in the wind and kamikaze driving, Frédéric Moncassin flutters over the cobblestones. But the last 750 meters are too much for the Toulousain. Blame it on the wait-and-see attitude of Andrei Tchmil, who remains stuck behind him, and the return of six pursuers at the entrance to the velodrome. Frédéric Guesdon (25) is one of them. He is the least known and has benefited a fraction of a second to seize the chance of a lifetime. “However, when I attack, it’s not even to win, but with the idea of putting at least one or two guys behind me”still laughs the current sports director of Groupama-FDJ.
The memories of cycling school are far away, and the Breton fears this eight-man sprint for “trackers”. He especially fears “to cause a fall, to send a [Johan] Museeuw with his world champion jersey on the ground”. So he takes the lead, turns around “persuaded to be seen again”but his destiny is ahead of him: that of the last French winner to date.
Legendary sprint and cold shower
Far from glory and honours, the velodrome is also this promised paradise at the end of hell. You still have to be punctual. Four years ago, Lithuanian Evaldas Siskevicius clocked in an hour after Peter Sagan and found the gates closed. In 1978, the young Duclos-Lassale was introduced to the scent by his teammate, Jean-Pierre Danguillaume. “He said to me: ‘Kid, if you arrive too late, the velodrome will be closed.’ All the race, I cling to the idea of finishing before. I’m 28and, but, beyond the place, the important thing was to complete this last lap. »
“Gibus” (his nickname) waits until 1992 to parade as a winner. He is 37 years old. The following year, his victorious sprint against Franco Ballerini became legendary. On the phone and on his tractor, Duclos-Lassalle replays the film. “In pure speed, Ballerini was faster and would probably have beaten me on the roadhe admits. But I was more comfortable than him on the track for having competed in quite a few Six Days [compétitions de cyclisme sur piste]. I launched myself halfway up the slope and picked up speed to surprise him when he started. In the straight line, I forced him to step aside towards the railing, which penalized him and allowed me to beat him for eight centimeters. »
Roubaix’s spell got the better of the Italian. An outstanding stylist on the cobblestones, Ballerini ended up breaking it in 1995, then winning again in 1998. On Sunday, Duclos-Lassalle will have a moved thought for his former rival, who died in 2010, during a car rally. Guest of honor for the thirtieth anniversary of his first success, he did not plan to pass a head through the famous showers, each of which bears the name of a winner.
Today, they are no more than a picturesque element, the riders preferring their team’s converted coaches. “The first year, it was cold for me. It was the winner’s punishmentsmiles Duclos-Lassale. But I always showered there, except in 1993, because of all the media solicitations. When my son Hervé finished his two Roubaix, he washed in his father’s shower. He told me: “I feel like home.” » Like cycling at the Roubaix velodrome.