Paris-Roubaix: the most wanted Hell

Some have been waiting for two and a half years. Others, forever. This weekend, Paris-Roubaix finally returns with its majestic start, infamous cobbles and iconic finish in the open velodrome, where Philippe Gilbert was the last Elite rider to take victory in April 2019 (Tom Pidcock won the Under 23 event a few weeks later).

This Sunday, the 118th edition of the “Hell of the North” will be the penultimate event of the 2021 UCI WorldTour, just a week after the UCI Road World Championships in Flanders. And on the eve of the men’s race, the stars of the UCI Women’s WorldTour will tackle the first ever Paris-Roubaix Femmes. Both events naturally attract a strong field of champions set to delight the fans after such a long wait due to restrictions in place as part of the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Paris-Roubaix Femmes is a milestone"

“I’m super excited”, Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (Team SD Worx) says as she heads for Denain, where the women's race will start on Saturday, in the early afternoon. “For me, Paris-Roubaix is a super course because I’m a Classics rider. And it also fits me. So I was waiting for this moment, but on the other side it’s also a bit scary. It’s totally new.”

With her stellar record in the most demanding one-day races (UCI Road World Champion, winner of the Ronde van Vlaanderen, Gent-Wevelgem in Flanders Fields, Strade Bianche, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, and Le Samyn des Dames on three occasions…), Van den Broek-Blaak appears among the natural favourites to shine over the 115.6km leading to Roubaix, with its 17 cobbled sectors – but she warns everyone: “You can’t compare it with any other race. The cobbles are different, very hard. And it’s flat, without much respite between the sectors.”

With this type of course, Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar Team) doesn’t see herself as a contender. “I’m more of a climber”, she laughs before suggesting her young teammate Emma Norsgaard (whose brother Mathias will also race to Roubaix for the first time with the men’s race on Sunday) has the qualities to do well on the cobbles. But the Oranje star, leader of the 2021 UCI Women’s WorldTour individual ranking, couldn’t miss the first women’s Paris-Roubaix: “I see it as a milestone, to organise this race for the women too, to show we’re tough girls who can also ride on the cobbles of Roubaix.”

The newly crowned UCI World Champion Elisa Balsamo (Valcar - Travel & Service) is coming to France for what will be not only her first Paris-Roubaix but also her first race with her rainbow jersey. The start list also features her runner-up and multiple UCI World Champion Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma Women Team), bronze medallist Katarzyna Niewiadoma (Canyon//SRAM Racing) and other former rainbow jersey wearers and Classics experts ready to take on the cobbles: Ellen Van Dijk and Lizzie Deignan (Trek Segafredo), Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope), Lotte Kopecky (Liv Racing), Marta Bastianelli (Ale’ BTC Ljubljana), Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM), Lisa Brennauer (Ceratizit WNT Pro Cycling Team)…

Autumnal race, wet race?

The lightweight men’s UCI Road World Champion Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step) won’t test himself on the cobbles leading to Roubaix, but his companions on the Leuven podium, Dylan van Baarle (Ineos Grenadiers) and Michael Valgren (EF Education-Nippo), are ready to make the most of their form. They’ll face former winners like Philippe Gilbert, John Degenkolb (Lotto Soudal), Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe), Greg Van Avermaet (AG2R-Citroën Team) and Niki Terpstra (Total Direct Énergies), as well as hopeful contenders such as Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma), Kasper Asgreen, Florian Sénéchal (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix).

All these champions promise a furious battle on the cobbles, as usual in Paris-Roubaix, on the same roads as they are always fought, but with a potential twist that could change everything: the autumnal weather conditions. For weeks now, participants and followers have been closely watching the forecast towards Roubaix for the first weekend of October. And, indeed, rain and strong winds are on the cards as the peloton heads towards the north of France.

Even the race director Thierry Gouvenou has been teasing on social media with an umbrella on the cobbles and this comment: “Meanwhile, it's raining at Arenberg.”

The last humid Paris-Roubaix was raced in 2002. It was the 100th edition and a Lion had emerged from the mud: Johan Museeuw, winner for the fourth time in the velodrome. Gouvenou was riding the Hell of the North for the seventh and final time in his career, and he claimed his best result (7th). This time, he'll be in prime position to see the men and women battle on the cobbles.