Paris-Roubaix, you either love it or you hate it at first sight, at the first cobblestone sector. It is instinctive, primary and without return. Northerner Adrien Petit always has “had this race in the skin” and even more after his 6and place on Sunday 17 April. Lauren Pichon less. And not just because his marital status points to a birth in Quimper, in Finistère. “I only came once in 2012 and I hated itadmits the Arkea-Samsic runner. I had come a bit like this and I had given up because my hands were hurting. †
Later, Pichon was reconciled with a “Hell of the North” smashed by the sun and contested at a record average of 45.8 mph. At 35, the Breton is still stunned by this 8and place, surprised to have accompanied the cadors almost all afternoon, this Van Aert, van der Poel and the winner of the day, a Dylan van Baarle arrived alone at the Vélodrome de Roubaix.
The Dutch also say “hate cobblestones” and that pleasure comes first from feeling “to go faster than the others, to see when we manage to outrun them”. An admitted and already half-forgiven sadism. Van Baarle makes a nice winner and is almost announced after his 2and place in the Tour of Flanders, fourteen days earlier.
“𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐞 Finishing #ParisRoubaix solo. A dream for every rider. Today… https://t.co/5VeyiCu32x
An elegant yet light diesel driver, the reigning Vice World Champion has long put his qualities at the service of others within the Ineos (formerly Sky) academy. Yet it is he, the perfect teammate who offers the British team its first win in Roubaix and was entitled to the embrace of his manager, Dave Brailsford, moved like a day in the yellow jersey on the Champs-Elysées.
In Roubaix, the winner leaves with a cobblestone as a trophy and others with memories for life. Their names are Adrien Petit, Laurent Pichon, Tom Devriendt (4and) and they kicked the legend a bit this Sunday, that of the most evil and ruthless classic, but also the most open to the brave and one-day opportunists.
The race director Christian Prudhomme even pays tribute to these supporting roles. “If Devriendt and Pichon are taken over by the favorites and we think they will be forgotten in the standings, but not at all. They fight to the end for a place of honor. Paris-Roubaix is also about these kinds of stories”, he said to World†
“Motorcycle” Mohoric and solidarity between French people
Take the so-called Tom Devriendt, Petit’s teammate in the Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert team. At the age of 30, the Belgian has lived his career anonymously in the peloton, especially recognizable by his long blond hair sticking out of the helmet and known to those who can give you the podium. of Binche-Chimay-Binche in 2017† At the cycling track of Roubaix, Devriendt just missed a bit of freshness to get Stefan Küng on the line and on the podium with his compatriot Wout van Aert (2and), rambunctious for a recovering from Covid-19.
Adrien Petit can always tell us that his comrade “ had been in the shape of his life for three weeks”the latter could hardly imagine that from Compiègne (Oise) he would open the way to the lead in legendary sectors such as Mons-en-Pévèle, Cysoing or Camphin-en-Pévèle. “This morning I was just thinking of doing my teamwork for Alexander Kristoff, he trusts in English after a long tour of the Flemish media. But I was lucky enough to be up front and then I gave it my all. †
The Belgian also took the ambition of the “engine” [Matej] mahogany »according to the expression of a Pichon who was present at the front to take advantage of the Slovenian’s relay, a time that van Baarle could follow in the Carrefour de l’Arbre before giving meter by meter the future winner in the last 15 kilometers .
In this key sector, Paris-Roubaix delivers all its audacity. There is no strategy anymore, no teamwork, just scattered runners. We fight, we crush the pedals with what remains of power and live in the middle of the rows of spectators. At the exit, Petit and Pichon forget the color of their sweater and go through a mean business “solidarity between the French”the Northerner advances.
The Vélodrome is not far, the last two sectors are anecdotal and we do not sacrifice a place of honour. Petit, however, relives his coming cramps, the memories to be given to come back to the van der Poel, Küng and Van Aert since leaving the Arenberg gorge two hours earlier.
If he rewinds the film of the past few days, the Frenchman recalls this flu contracted at the end of March, the stoppage of the Tour of Flanders. “powerless, empty”, six-hour trips to unlock the legs. His Sunday didn’t start much better. Like Van Aert and Küng, he received a nasty gust of wind after the curb kick of Van Baarle’s teammates. “After 50 km I am in the second peloton, I say to myself “impeccable, it’s over before I hit the cobblestones”, but I stayed focused and when 100 posts further the split I felt I had good legs. †
“I was stressed as a neo-pro”
An easy verb and a clear sense of anecdote, Adrien Petit had already entertained journalists in October with his misadventures between rain, mud, flat tires and fall into a beet field in the Haveluy sector. He had already confessed that he wanted to return to it six months later. Laurent Pichon enjoyed the comfort of a sofa at the time. hot.
Roubaix? Not his war. He thought he was scalded by his first experience before however volunteering to replenish the sick and injured within his team. † Saturday night I was stressing like a neo-pro. The day before we had explored the Arenberggat and I was wondering if it was a good idea to come back here. † This time spared by blisters, “Pipiche” claims never to have thought of victory, “You have to be realistic, but a little bit on stage. †
This place of honor makes him say he’s getting old “maybe as good wine” and that he realizes more lucky to do this job. Yes, he will probably be back in 2023. Adrien Petit too. Ninth in 2017, this former French sprint hopeful “is getting closer to the podium and hopes to get there someday”. For some, the queen of the classics requires perseverance, places of honor and a few setbacks before giving herself up. Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle ended up with the ring on his finger in 1992 at the age of 37.
🚴️💥 Relive the terrible terrible fall of Yves Lampaert, embarrassed by the arm of a spectator! #ParisRoubaix ▶️… https://t.co/ZUicAmL66i
Yves Lampaert is one of his go-getters. The Belgian finished in the top ten for the fourth time (10and† For a while he even considered returning to Van Baarle in connection with Matej Mohoric. It was for the run of a sun, unbalanced by the hand of a spectator in the Willems sector, in Hem.
Moment of fear, then of relief when the Quick-Step rider climbs back into the saddle after falling on his back like a judoka. Lampaert laughs at the Velodrome. The bike has barely been put down, the result has already been forgotten. The father of the family takes his very young son Alois in his arms. He may not have won Paris-Roubaix yet, but in his eyes you could swear he was the happiest man this Sunday too.
