The greatest one-day race in cycling, the Paris-Roubaix, the “Hell of the North” has finally has welcomed a women’s edition in 2021 which marks a turning point in women’s cycling and with the recognition and coverage of women’s racing reaching new heights. The build-up for the mens race on Sunday October 2. has carried over for the women’s teams with prime-time attention from media outlets and broadcasters. Many riders, staff and spectators were in tears at the finish because of the gravity of this historic milestone.
It was wet and it was muddy, it was unpredictable and it was nail biting. After days of reconnaissance and photoshoots in the famous Roubaix velodrome showers, the women departed from Denain to face 116.4km and 17 sections of pavé totalling 29.2km. In the first section of cobblestones, Britains’ Elizabeth Deignan of Trek Segafredo pushed forward with 82km to solo through. The peloton faced a slippery slide with tumbles throughout the field while superstar Marianne Vos of Jumbo-Visma attacked and sought to challenge the break. Deignan succeeded and held her breakaway to become the first women to win the Pais-Roubaix. Vos entered the velodrome in second to cross the finish line shortly after and Deignans’ Trek Segafredo team mate and reining world champion Elisa Longo Borghini entered the iconic Roubaix velodrome and crossed the line after the lap-and-a-half for third place.
It was history in the making as the media and television coverage helped fuel spectator interest and even the mens penultimate stage of the Tour of Croatia took a back seat to the 2021 Pais-Roubaix Femme.
The impact of corona took a toll on the women’s 2021 racing calendar though the Olympic games provided an important boost along with the announcement for the Zwift sponsored 2022 women’s Tour de France Femmes and the return of the Giro Rosa (Giro Donne) as a women’s WorldTour event which has traditionally been the most prestigious women’s stage race in the racing calendar.
With the cycling world ‘finally’ welcoming women into their most iconic and coveted Paris-Roubaix, the growing media and spectator interest will also help drive sponsor support to fund the team. For everyone at the Vélodrome André-Pétrieux in Roubaix for the women’s race today, there was an undeniable feeling and emotion that this is a historic milestone in women’s cycling.
