Belgian journalist recounts stories of chaos from Paris-Roubaix: "Mechanic fell flat on his face on the cobblestones when he tried to help an unlucky rider"

Besides the gruesome cobbles, another characteristic of Paris-Roubaix is the full-blown chaos of this French Monument. Sporza's Renaat Schotte followed the whole race, including some unreal scenes, from a TV motorbike.

"7,000 things were happening at once," the Belgian journalist begins his analysis. Schotte seems to think it's a pity that we - as viewers - couldn't see everything he saw. "I desperately need to have a camera shoot some footage from my perspective next year because of what I saw yesterday... It was mind-blowing."

On television, the opening phase on the asphalt roads seemed very calm. That was also how it came across to Schotte. "Back then, it was all very relaxed, with Mathieu van der Poel enthusiastically waving hello from the back of the pack." Tadej Pogacar's opponent also had time to deal with trivial matters. "He would smile when he realized I was fiddling with my phone. Those were the first signs that these men were in a very comfortable position."

However, it quickly became chaotic. Or, as Schotte says: "A madhouse and a crazy race." The Belgian saw the first crash early on. "We were in a corner when they crashed right in front of us on a slippery section. That was the beginning of Stuyven's ordeal. After that, I saw many odd things."

How odd, exactly? Well, pretty odd, as we can gather from the Belgian's words. "I saw a bicycle tumble off the Intermarché-Wanty support car in a tight corner. The whole line of cars then had to go around that obstacle. Extraordinary scenes." Not much later, the next person was on the ground. "A press photographer had fallen off his motorbike due to the slippery conditions." An Astana mechanic also couldn't escape the chaos. "He fell flat on his face on the cobblestones when he tried to help the unlucky Ballerini. Mind-blowing slides."