A lot has been made about rider safety ahead of the upcoming edition of Paris-Roubaix this coming weekend following the introduction of a chicane intended to slow riders before they reach the famous Trouée d'Arenberg cobbles.
Adding to those concerns of safety, Bruno Mallet, the team lead for Shimano France neutral service car shared his concerns to Velo about the state of the actual cobbles themselves. “It’s as bad as 2021. It was terrible,” assesses Mallet after a recon of the course. “That’s a problem. You can’t see what you’re going over. That’s very dangerous.”
Back in 2021, Paris-Roubaix was held in autumn after a covid-19 pandemic affected racing calendar during that year. During that time, deep puddles and cobbles caked in thick layers of mud made things incredibly difficult for riders before Sonny Colbrelli sprinted to victory ahead of Florian Vermeersch and Mathieu van der Poel.
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With more rain forecast in the coming days, it's not very likely conditions will improve too much before the start of the race, despite the tireless work of volunteers and the local goats. One thing for sure though is this year's edition is set to be must-watch and packed with drama.
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