"We had an idiot who wanted to ride Paris-Roubaix purely for social media" - Paris-Roubaix director insults... Owner of one of the teams racing in 2026

This Sunday sees Paris-Roubaix on the road, one of the most important races in the calendar, where the risks and stakes are incredibly high. However race director Thierry Gouvenou has, on the eve of the race, launched criticism at a rider who took part in it a few years ago - who just happened to be Bas Tietema, who is the owner of the Unibet Rose Rockets, who are taking part in the race this year.

The comments came within the context of a conversation about the time limits for Roubaix. Organizing such a long race requires a complex organization system to close roads so the riders can safely race through them. This requires logistics, money, staff and coordination with the city councils and police in which the race goes through.

For that reason, and the race's iconic status, often riders will continue to ride to the finish, but outside the established time limit. However, as they are still competing, the race vehicles continue to follow them so as to maintain the correct course and safety conditions.

With riders not abandoning the race due to the achievement of reaching the finish, the gaps can often be gigantic. But this creates a problem for the organizers who have to keep extending the time in which roads are blocked all throughout the region. They are changing the way they approach this matter.

“The margin is still 8%, but we have introduced a new rule nonetheless. If the rider falls too far behind, we reserve the right to catch up with him. Because a few years ago we had an idiot who wanted to ride Paris-Roubaix purely for social media," he said to L'Équipe.

Such a comment came by surprise, as not only it is a direct insult to one of the riders who took part in Paris-Roubaix, but also because it is referring to the owner of one of the teams who is racing it. This is Bas Tietema, CEO of the Unibet Rose Rockets, a team that was created in 2023 and has raced the French monument already in 2025, as will be the case in 2026.

The previous year, Tietema rode Paris-Roubaix with Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB, having signed a contract two years prior. The Youtuber was previously a podium finisher in the 2014 under-23 Paris-Roubaix, however his abilities on the bike were not as competitive in 2022 with the elite peloton. That year he finished the race over 1 hour behind winner Dylan van Baarle.

"He fell behind early on, he kept dawdling, and behind him we received a reprimand from the police because we had blocked the roads for far too long," Gouvenou explained. However his use of the word 'idiot' certainly creates an environment of contention.