2024 Paris Roubaix

[foo on patrol]

Well, how dominate was that by Mathieu va der Poel!

Foo

[MichaelB]

I watched till Arenberg was done, and then crashed.

He looked strong as then !

Whilst the peleton was pretty small, the predictions of doom & gloom and mass crashes and the end of the world, the chicane was a real non-event.

[warthog1]

Fell asleep on the couch with about 8k to go. He was 3 min up. Yep, super strong!

[elantra]

Fell asleep on the couch with about 8k to go. He was 3 min up. Yep, super strong!

Nah, I couldn’t do it, fell asleep with about 2 hours still to go.

Besides, the part that I saw didn’t look that interesting, it was nice fine weather and the roads / tracks looked dry.

Not like some of the epic contests that I have watched (on TV) in the past, such as the Matthew Hayman victory or the Colbrelli victory covered in mud.
And I was a bit knackered after a big day’s drive back from the Brisbane Roubaix event.
Driving in SE Queensland is not a relaxing activity.
But then driving on most roads is not a relaxing activity

The Roubaix event in Brisbane was truly a fascinating experience.
There were 6 gravel or mud sections, of which I completed 5 before having to take a shortcut back to the place where car parked, for various reasons.

Actually I did get lost many times but it didn’t really matter, I always managed to find my way back to the official course.

I got a bit lost in the Brisbane suburb of Ferny Hills and totally lucked out.
I found a little gravel track connecting to No through roads and along the gravel trail was the famous Easter bunny duo, Winston and Wendy

[Cycling Wombat]

Whilst the peleton was pretty small, the predictions of doom & gloom and mass crashes and the end of the world, the chicane was a real non-event.

Do half the riders drop out before half way?

[find_bruce]

Do half the riders drop out before half way?

Nope - 172 starters, 1 DQ & only 43 did not finish (25%).

It's a point of honour for many riders to finish - such that while Kell O'Brien was the 110th finisher 25:53 after MVDP, there were another 18 riders who kept going to the finish, even though they were out of time, brought home by the last man to finish, Aussie Cyrus Monk who was almost an hour back.

[Cycling Wombat]

Ah OK! I was wondering why they only showed the front group go through the forest and basically the whole time. Guess they were just showing the front runners. I'm use to seeing the multi stage races where they show the whole field because the leaders aren't always up front.

[Derny Driver 2]

It's a point of honour for many riders to finish - such that while Kell O'Brien was the 110th finisher 25:53 after MVDP, there were another 18 riders who kept going to the finish, even though they were out of time, brought home by the last man to finish, Aussie Cyrus Monk who was almost an hour back.

I wonder if Kell had some problems.
Big Sam Welsford finished 15 minutes down, which is 12 minutes behind second place, great effort I reckon.

[warthog1]

I was also surprised at how few riders were shown.
Also at just how strong MVdP was!
Just destroyed the opposition. That average speed!

[MichaelB]

Hope they throw the book at her !!

https://cyclingmagazine.ca/sections/new ... -poel-was/

Video is in the above article.

The incident occurred on the 10th cobblestone section of Merignies in Avelin. In the official race footage, a woman can be glimpsed quickly aiming a cap at the rear wheel of an unsuspecting Mathieu van der Poel. Whether this act was entirely intentional remained ambiguous from those initial images. Thewoman involved previously spoke through her lawyer, attributing it to “an unfortunate maneuver after an afternoon of aperitifs along the cobblestones. She stressed that she had not consciously thrown the hat.

accident my ar$e

[warthog1]

Hope they throw the book at her !!

https://cyclingmagazine.ca/sections/new ... -poel-was/

Video is in the above article.

The incident occurred on the 10th cobblestone section of Merignies in Avelin. In the official race footage, a woman can be glimpsed quickly aiming a cap at the rear wheel of an unsuspecting Mathieu van der Poel. Whether this act was entirely intentional remained ambiguous from those initial images. Thewoman involved previously spoke through her lawyer, attributing it to “an unfortunate maneuver after an afternoon of aperitifs along the cobblestones. She stressed that she had not consciously thrown the hat.

accident my ar$e

Yep, absolutely intentional.