As a reaction to the request from CPA, Paris-Roubaix organization added the so-much discussed chicane in front of the entrance to the famous Arrenberg sector. Cyclism'Actu columnist Cyrille Guimard has mixed thoughts about this last-minute craft, yet he's shocked to see the reactions of some of the riders (f.e. Mathieu van der Poel) who seem to have not been communicated with about this change. This contradicts Adam Hansen's (CPA chairman) previous confirmation that CPA acted on riders' request.
"First of all, I must say that it is embarrassing to do something in a hurry. In principle, thinking about putting in place means to avoid major falls seems entirely legitimate to me, but here we can talk - be something that is going to be more dangerous than normal entry onto the cobblestones. And what bothers me the most personally is that the riders were not warned and consulted, just like the teams. We don't ask them for their opinion," he begins.
"It's absolutely nonsense, it's something serious not to consult the people who are the main stakeholders. The way it was set up is anti-democratic and dishonest because all the cycling families are not respected. We started with a reflection of four or five riders. We cannot take into account only a handful of riders, and especially on a problem as serious as safety."
Finally, Guimard spoke about the reason which, according to him, largely explains this increase in crashes. "I'm tired of seeing lots of thirty riders on the road, it ends up disgusting me. And the biggest danger for riders is earpieces and GPS. If we want to protect them, let's not impose on them tools that make them lose their vigilance and their ability to react. We know that when someone speaks into your ears, you have a total loss of attention," he concludes.
Riders reached, and we acted on their behalf. Now, with a slower entrance to Arenberg, riders won't hit it with speed and momentum. It's going to make this sector even harder than before.
⚠ For safety reasons and following a request from @cpacycling, the #ParisRoubaix organisation is modifying the approach to the Trouée d'Arenberg. The route will take a chicane just before the entrance to the sector in order to slow the speed at which the riders enter the sector…
