A note of thanks to Ride Cycle Review for sponsoring the Inner Ring for April. The Australian magazine has long been a good read. When I’ve visited Australia it’s been something to make the long flight back to Europe more pleasant.
But you don’t need to visit Australia any more in order to pick up a copy, it is now available online via Zinio, the electronic magazine distribution site.
A rider punctures in a race. They’re forced to stop and to stand by the side of the road, often holding up a wheel in the air with a forlorn look on their face. You’ve probably seen it on TV many times, maybe you’ve experienced it too.
Hopefully the rider will get a spare wheel and return to the action. But precious energy is wasted and when the pace is high the rider can lose time and placings. Look to Sylvain Chavanel in Paris-Roubaix last Sunday. One minute he’s at the front of the race, the next minute he’s out of contention. It happens so many times a year it seems normal. But is it? Would you work with a tool that let you down so often? If a rim or a crank failed this often nobody would use it.
An outsider to the sport would probably be amazed by the number of punctures that happen in a race. The energy wasted, the races lost, these incidents aren’t a mere inconvenience or hassle. Punctures cost results and points. At times even careers and reputations can be ruined. Why?
Eddy Merckx, The Cannibal by Daniel Friebe
During his career Eddy Merckx won roughly one third of all the races he started. For an unbroken period of seven years he finished no lower than first in every grand tour he completed.
Daniel Friebe’s biography is more than the story of Merckx, it is a history of cycling under the reign of rider known as The Cannibal as told by interviews and anecdotes from the riders who saw their hopes, ambitions and earnings swallowed up by the insatiable Merckx. Yet many now seem cheerful about the whole experience.
What does the picture above remind you of? No, this isn’t a Rorschach test, it is a painting by British artist Chris Billington. Can you see anything that looks like a bike race?
Slosse is a family-owned stonemason business from Orchies in northern France, a cobblestone’s throw from the route of Sunday’s race in Orchies. The company was started by 1898 and has flourished since, these days supplying everything from bathroom tiles to tombstones and shiny bank atriums.
But it has a tiny sideline and for the past ten years it has supplied the trophy for Paris-Roubaix. Some races offer gold trophies, some have silver cups, but Paris-Roubaix rewards the winner with a block of stone.
A fast start, an early breakaway, crashes in the Arenberg forest. So far, so typical of Paris-Roubaix.
Then with 56km to Tom Boonen and team mate Nicki Terpstra got a gap and then on the cobbled section at Auchy-lez-Orchies, Tom Boonen rode away from his team mate, launching a solo move that saw him ride to a record-equalling fourth win in the queen of classics. This was the moment the race was won.
The Belgians might say the Tour of Flanders is the best race of the year. Italians could say Milan-Sanremo is the most beautiful. But the hardest race of the year? With labels like “hell”, “brutal”, “hardest of the hardest”, “queen of the classics”, Paris-Roubaix must be the toughest race of the year.
There can be moments when Paris-Roubaix crosses from a race to a circus event thanks to the giant cobbles, the mud and more. But there is something beautiful in the contest and the way the race transforms the landscape that makes this a special race. It’s also high entertainment on TV.
The Route | Tactics | The Contenders | How hard are the cobbles? | The Tech | Weather | TV Viewing
Startlist | The Trophy | History
The weather for Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix race is uncertain but if riders make it to the finish then a shower is guaranteed. Indeed Paris-Roubaix must be the only race where the washing facilities make up part of the legend.
The showers inside the velodrome are as much a part of the ritual as is the photo of the winner lifting the cobbled trophy in the air. Do other sports treat the showers or locker room with the same reverence?
ASO have announced the four “wildcard” invitations for the 2012 Tour de France starting on 30 June in Liège, Belgium.
Dutch squad Argos-Shimano are picked alongside French teams Cofidis, Europcar and Saur-Sojasun to join the 18 World Tour teams in the race. The choice is logical.
Think of a crash in a bike race and it’s easy to imagine leg injuries given the sport is associated with the leg muscles and the exposed skin. But when it comes to broken bones, it seems riders seem to break and fracture their collarbones all the time.
Off the top of my head, from men’s pro cycling Fabian Cancellara, David Millar, Filippo Pozzato, Sebastian Langeveld, Wouter Mol, Carlos Quintero have done it this season, and there must be several more. Even the UCI’s Alain Rumpf too. Get well soon.
Here’s a quick look at this bone which turns out to be unique.