Cycling: “At the moment the riders are really traumatized”, the organizers of Paris-Roubaix ready to secure certain paved sectors

The paved roads of Northern France are prone to falls. MAXPPP – JASPER JACOBS

The organizers of Paris-Roubaix announced on Tuesday that they were considering the installation of a chicane at the entrance to the famous Arenberg gap to slow down the peloton on Sunday and avoid a fall like the one that happened. seriously injured Wout Van Aert in Across Flanders.

"The principle is to find turns before the Arenberg gap to lengthen the peloton and make it slow down. It is estimated that the speed can be halved. Normally, they arrive at 60 km/h. If we can get them back at 30-35 km/h it will be less risky. This is not yet validated but we should have answers quickly", indicated the race director, Thierry Gouvenou, during the reconnaissance of the course on Tuesday.< /p>

Also read: VIDEO. Cycling: the impressive fall of Wout Van Aert and several favorites in Across Flanders

This chicane, just at the entrance to this strategic and legendary place in the Queen of Classics, responds to a request from the riders' union after the terrible crash last Wednesday in Across Flanders. Several runners fell heavily, including the Belgian Wout van Aert, victim of multiple fractures to his collarbone, seven ribs and his sternum.

"Let's play a little Russian roulette"

"You should know that at the moment the runners are really traumatized, underlined Mr. Gouvenou. The request seems completely logical to me because I have personally done Paris-Roubaix twelve times as a professional and each time I got there I wondered how I was going come out. When we get here, we play a little Russian roulette."

Also read: VIDEO. Cycling: "We're all afraid", chain massacres in the peloton following numerous falls

D’as much as the 2024 edition of Hell of the North promises "complicated" for runners on very slippery, muddy and wet paved areas. "We see that it’s extremely delicate. There is still a lot of mud. We expected it with the weather of recent months and it's true that today it's really slippery and tricky. When we talk about the legend of Paris-Roubaix, we are right in it", declared the race director.