Well they’ve won the first two women’s races.

Most of Trek-Segafredo seem to be stuck in that second group on the road!

group 2 not looking particularly anxious.  I would guess that the cobbles will string things out and give it more chance of coming back together in some way.  Great fun to watch though

Just back from my morning ride – wtf a 1 minute gap!

(Re the Domane – its a shame to hear that. I have a lot of neck muscular issues in the road position, so need a taller more comfy bike plus I’m a nervous descender and the shape/isospeed/tyre would seem to give me a great Essex/Herts bike. Having said that, I’ve just enjoyed a ride on my TCR like Eastway – pics in the weekend pics thread – whereas although it feels skittish over small gravel maybe I can cope with that and my massage gun… Maybe I should see if a 28mm tyre would fit.)

Just back from my morning ride – wtf a 1 minute gap!

It was all really cagey and scrappy – little breaks, 20″ gaps, all brought back but a lot of the favourites were just keeping out of trouble right at the back, saving energy. Suddenly the crosswind picked up and the split just kind of happened, it wasn’t really forced. No-one really started drilling it with the aim of splitting it, the gap just…opened. Nothing, nothing, 5″, holy shit, what just happened?!

Ineos have played a blinder. Good to see Gilbert in the front group too.

First cobbled sector in <10km

Second group are not having a good day out, significant crash within that in the rush to get to the front for the cobbles.

That’s one hell of a dust cloud being kicked up!

1:20 gap isn’t really enough, a crash on a sector or a big push on a longer sector like Saint Python will see it come down. TV coverage doesn’t convey the brutality of riding the stones at high speed.

have to be back in touch really soon now as first bunch has to be 20s or so long

mayhem

my nerves are tattered already, big crash in the front group

I can’t imagine how much effort or indeed how you get back if dropped due to a puncture or mechanical etc. Most of us struggle to hit 50km on a downhill let alone sustain it on a flat to close a gap!

shredded quite literally ! 🙁

Rider with flaps of skin hanging off…. 🤢

I think Terpstra is about to be caught.
Still a significant gap back to some of the big names though.

Edit: in fact, given how big the gap is, I’m wondering how long until the second group just calls it a day, especially given that it’s only about 1/4 of them actually working.

new dura-ace front mechs are trash

soo many punctures

get off the road man!!

Bloody good job Ganna has been doing all that TT and track pursuit practice, he’s needing it with his run of bad luck so far.

would tubeless not prevent the punctures or is there still a risk?

would tubeless not prevent the punctures or is there still a risk?

no idea, last one was wet, one before was 2019 so were tubulars still de rigueur for the last?

just seems to be a lot lot more

top 3 in 2019 were tubulars

https://www.cyclingnews.com/features/paris-roubaix-tech-podium-bikes-from-the-hell-of-the-north/

maybe the wet conditions last year helped masked the poorness of tubeless just for this race

are tubeless just poorer grip then because of stronger sidewalls?

would tubeless not prevent the punctures or is there still a risk?

There seemed to be a lot of punctures in the Women’s race as well. I’m wondering if they’re trying to run them too low and the tyre is burping or rolling in the corners. Just curious if some of it is mechanics / DS not being used to the relatively new tech in such a unique race.

Van Aert on Tubulars?

https://road.cc/content/tech-news/paris-roubaix-mens-tech-photo-gallery-292007

so, we’ve had all the starters and the fish course, the main course is on the pass and the chef’s just called service!

My heart rate is higher than it should be, amazing pictures of the slipping and sliding in the trench… glad it’s not me.

You know what, it’s actually quite refreshing to have a complete mix up of the names, not just WvA and MvdP knocking spots off each other.

proper classic

proper classic

Yeah, this is good, real flip-flop of fortunes.
Bit of a lull and a regroup after the chaos of Arenberg.

just hope this doesn’t turn into a similar situation as the 2012 Olympics now, where because IGD have so many still in the lead group everyone just sits and waits for them to do it, and as a result the leaders just ride gently to a sprint finish. I want full gas for the next 90 minutes!!!!

I want full gas for the next 90 minutes!!!!

WvA is now on the charge so I think you’ll get your wish!

You know what, it’s actually quite refreshing to have a complete mix up of the names, not just WvA and MvdP knocking spots off each other.

and after all the chaos of the last 190km, both have still ended up in the select group at the sticky end

Great riding from Turner, he’s been really impressive in last couple of months

Wow, this is just constantly changing!

it really is the race for the lucky hardman.

Impressive how quickly they put gaps into eachother. This group of 4 could be a minute up shortly.

blimey he’s human after all !

Lampaert pulled off by a spectator, ooof looked awful.

Lampaert pulled off by a spectator, ooof

I hope he stopped to smack the shit out of that spectator. That was a nasty crash, he went right over, it wasn’t just a simple slip, he absolutely went flying. 🙁

what an absolute bell end thing to do.

It didn’t look intentional at all, the guy was just leaning into the road and clapping, he didn’t literally pull him off. He was far too close though. Utter moron. QST should be suing him the value of the 3rd place prize money as he’d have got that at a minimum.

Plus the value of that nice bike that is probably trashed. Need a few more high profile punishments for dickhead spectators like that woman with the cardboard slogan in the Tour last year.