Paris-Roubaix Femmes: Pre-thoughts and after-thoughts from the riders

It was great to see this big moment in history over the weekend, when women raced the Paris-Roubaix for the first time ever. I remember asking Christian Prudhomme, of Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) in 2018, when he thought there would be a Paris-Roubaix for women. He said, at the time that they were focused on a junior race for the male riders, and that they would put on a women's race but there were time constraints and it would be something to look for in the future. Naturally, campaigners for women's cycling were not impressed with this reply.

So it was great news to hear, last year, that a woman's race would be taking place. Finally it came to pass, over the weekend, and it didn't disappoint. Although the route was less than half the distance of the men's race, being 116.4km and without the infamous Forest of Arenberg cobbles, the race was anything but easy. With the women hitting the cobbles after just 30km and going into Mons-en-Pévèle as well as Carrefour de L'Arbre, the racers will have their work cut out for them. Many women were quite clear that they would be in for a tough ride - and it certainly was.

Photo: Trek-Segafredo

There was no bunch finish for first place, as Lizzie Deignan (Trek-Segafredo) won from an 85km breakaway, with Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) who made a spirited attempt to chase down the British rider, entering the famous Roubaix Velodrome more than a minute behind to finish in second place. Deignan's team-mate Elisa Longo-Borghini not far behind in third place. There was a bunch sprint of around 10 riders for the minor placings and thereafter women finished in ones and twos.  

Of 129 starters, just 61 finished, with riders either missing the time cut or dropping out following a crash, notably Annemiek Van Vleuten (Team Movistar) who crashed and broke her pelvis.

Interestingly, the race was topped and tailed by British riders, with the first placed rider being Lizzie Deignan, and the last classified finisher, in 61st place being Abby-Mae Parkinson (Lotto Soudal Ladies). 

I interviewed a number of different women before the race. It is interesting to hear a few of their reactions after their first experience of the Hell of the North:

Alice Barnes, Canyon-SRAM Racing [26th]

Before: 

"I would say it’s [Paris-Roubaix is] one of the races on the calendar that suits me the most, with it being flat, but with the cobbled aspect which will make it a tough race. So I am glad that in my lifetime I will be able to race it. Hopefully I will have some good luck and good legs and get a good result. I heard a lot of people say that there’s nothing like Roubaix cobbles. I would say in Holland or Belgium I have ridden cobbles a bit like it but I think it’s the back to back cobbles and the relentlessness that makes it a much different race from any race on the calendar. Hopefully with it being the women’s first edition we can put on a good race, and it’ll be exciting and I’ll be there in the thick of the action with the rest of my team.

"I am really excited. I do like the cobbles – I don’t know if I will be saying that at the end of Saturday, but it’s just an exciting race and I’ve watched it for years and years when there’s been the men’s racing. I’ve been inspired from that, but hopefully having a women’s edition will inspire more women to want to race the event as well."

Photo: Tino Pohlmann

After:

"To be honest, overall I am disappointed. I just didn't have the legs. I tried to block this out and just kept pushing which seemed the common advice anyway. I found myself in a group that was working fairly well together, and when I got to the velodrome, I just had to ride for the best place I could.

"I wish I could have soaked in the atmosphere at the finish, but I couldn't help but feel disappointed with how my day went. As a team, we had bad luck with losing Kasia [Niewiadoma] early and the puncture of Elise [Chabbey]  as she was really well positioned when she got this and felt she had good legs."

Asked if she would like to return to next year's edition, to be held in April, Barnes was quick to reply. "Yes, 100%. I know this can be a good race for me. I can see myself and Paris-Roubaix having a love-hate relationship for the rest of my career."

Chantal van den Broek-Blaak, SD Worx [10th]

Before:

"The cobbles are bad. They are flat, but there are holes everywhere and you need to have speed to ride over it, and that’s the problem because if you are tired you won’t have the speed anymore. And also the rests [on the tarmacked roads] in between cobbled section are so short – sometimes only 2km or 3km before going into the next section, so that makes it hard. 

"I didn’t really dream about this race when I was younger, as you don’t really know what kind of rider you are. But in the last years I have seen that I am a pure classic, one day racer. I am normally good in the Spring. I have won Flanders and Strade Bianche and those kind of races. So then you know you are able to do it; so of course when I saw this race on the calendar I was directly super-happy. That was my first reaction. My second reaction was I probably can do it, but I didn’t really know, so that made me nervous. I think I prepared well, and in the end we will see how it goes. Maybe I’m not made for it, I don’t know!" 

Photo: Tornanti

After:

"It was super tough, but what a cool race this is. I think everyone is completely empty. It was a really chaotic race, but we were sitting pretty comfortably in. I did not expect [Lizzie] Deignan's attack on the first cobblestone section, however. Super clever of her that she could stay ahead until the end with so much wind and such a tough course. Hats off."

Jolien d'Hoore, SD Worx [Finished outside time limit]

Before:

"Paris-Roubaix is just beautiful. I love it. It’s a hard race. We never experienced anything like this before so it’s going to be new for everybody and I’m really looking forward to it.

"I live on the course of Tour of Flanders and so we have cobbles, but you can’t compare them with these ones in Paris-Roubaix. The cobbles in Paris-Roubaix are more like a bunch of rocks thrown together, whereas the cobbles in Flanders are still pretty smooth.

"I am more a fan of a dry race, where it’s safe for everybody. When it’s raining it’s just going to be a matter of surviving and not crashing. And that has nothing to do with cycling anymore; I just want the best rider to win on Saturday and not the ride who has the most luck.

"Paris-Roubaix is the race I remember the most when I was a little girl. I was watching it on the television from the start until the finish. I can still remember riders like Johan Museeuw and especially Tom Boonen. I can remember 2012 when Boonen did a long solo, so it’s crazy that I am now riding on the same cobbled sections as he did. That just gives me goosebumps."

Photo: Cor Vos

After:

"It was literally hell. We explored the course in dry weather, now the cobblestones were super slippery due to the rainfall. One brake and you crashed. That's Roubaix.
Mentally it was difficult to continue the race after my second crash, but there was never a moment to give up. In my last race [of her career before retiring] I didn't want to get in the broom wagon. I had only one goal left: ignore the pain, get to the finish, and enjoy the last kilometres."

Lizzie Deignan, Trek-Segafredo, [Winner]

Before:

"Paris-Roubaix Femmes is something that should have happened long ago, but it is a big step forward in women’s cycling, and it’s great to see the respect women are gaining in cycle racing. 

"I think the course is fine as it is. When designing the course we have to think about the race and the various teams and riders involved. The most important thing is to have a women’s Paris-Roubaix. Which cobbles should or shouldn’t be included can be looked at in the future."

After:

"I feel very emotional. I am just really proud....I cannot believe it happened.... At the start of the day we said, 'you know the rulebook: anything can happen'. It was a case of just fighting to be at the front in those first cobble sections, and I knew that Ellen [van Dijk], one of our [team] leaders, was not in such a good position. And I thought, 'well if at least I am there [at the front] I can cover something'. And when I looked behind, no one was there, and I thought 'well at least they will have to chase me down, so I carried on.' I was riding with the assurance that my team-mates Ellen, Elisa [Longo-Borghini] and Audrey [Cordon-Ragot] were behind me. We had the best team in the race and that's why I won. 

"I didn't know I was going to win until I entered the velodrome! I couldn't hear anything, my legs were cramping, and I knew that even on the last section you could lose two minutes if you cramped and blew up. I really just tried to keep a regular pace. At this point in the season, I am tired and I knew the best thing for me was to keep a steady pace and stay in front for as long as I could. Paris-Roubaix has always been a men's race and I am just so proud that women's cycling is on the world stage now. I am proud that my daughter can look at the cobblestone trophy."

Photo of the day - 28: More Italian cycling success, even ahead of the mighty Dutch

 

Getty Images

Continuing the theme of Italians winning things this summer, this was once again repeated at the Women's World Road Racing Championships. The noteworthy thing was that it was Elisa Balsamo who managed to outsprint Marianne Vos, the greatest female bike racer of all time. Those who have followed the season will not be surprised that Elisa was in the mix at the end, given that with her sponsored team Valcar Travel & Service she has tended to contest sprints and be in the minor placings.

But to get ahead of the great Marianne Vos was an achievement at another level. I think the difference between Marianne and Elisa was that Vos probably launched her sprint a little late, and furthermore Balsamo had a very strong cohesive lead-out team in the shape of Elisa Longo Borghini, Marta Bastianelli, Marta Cavalli and Maria-Giulia Conflonieri. Interestingly, the Dutch team was also very strong on paper. People have been talking about them for the last couple of years being a formidable team, and the team to beat.

Given that a number of these riders have been Olympic Champion or World Champion, it isn't without reason that the world is talking about the team from the Netherlands. The question isn't will they win? It's more - which one out of  Marianne Vos, Annemiek Van Vleuten, Anna van der Breggen, Demi Vollering, Amy Pieters and Ellen Van Dijk will win? 

Unfortunately, the team has lost out in recent major competitions. At the Olympics, they totally failed to spot that a relatively unknown rider from Austria (Anna Kiesenhofer) had done a breakaway off the front to win. In fact, when Annemiek Van Vleuten crossed the line in second place she did a victory salute, thinking she had won! Apparently, some members of the Dutch team new that there was already a woman ahead on the road, but this doesn't seem to have been communicated between them. (Radios weren't allowed during the race.)

Then at the World Championships communication was better, but they still didn't manage to get organised to launch Marianne into the best position at the right time for the sprint for the line. So their most decorated rider failed to catch the young speedy Italian in the home straight. 

Marianne looked extremely disappointed - more so than I have ever seen her after a race - and she was in tears on the finish line. I must say, I felt bad for her and would have like to see her win.

But I think here, it is a case of the strongest team isn't always the team that wins. What counts more is using your resources wisely and working better as a team. And I think that's where the Italians were able to make the difference. So the buzz word is "team work". And that's something that the Italians seem to excel at where the Dutch need to do better.

Cyclists battle through the lockdown

I recently worked on an article for Cycling Weekly about cycling during lockdown, and how professional cycle racers are managing to stay fit and healthy during this period.

Opening pages of the Cycling Weekly feature I co-wrote with Rebecca Charlton

There's nothing more frustrating than not being able to do the sport you love. But spare a thought for those who cycle train and race for a living - those whose lives are dominated by a timetable of races, and a training schedule plus lifestyle based on being on top form for your next race.

Imaging you are all set to thrash it out on the roads of Belgium or Italy at the Spring Classics races, then suddenly you are told that you have to stop everything and staying indoors for the foreseeable future. That has been the case for those professional cycle racers living in Italy, Spain and France. Strictly speaking, it's possible to cycle outdoors in France but given the rules only one hour of exercise within a 1km-radius of home, biking options outdoors are quite limited.

Attilo Viviani, the younger brother of World Track Cycling Champion Elia Viviani had endured a 10-day lockdown in Abu Dhabi when the United Arab Emirates Tour was abruptly ended after some team members tested positive for Coronavirus. He then returned to his home in Verona, only to be enter into another lockdown throughout Italy the following week.


"This is my first season as a pro so it is strange for me, but also for guys aged 35 as well - no one has ever lived through a season like this. To stay motivated, I speak to our Italian Director Sportive, Roberto Damiani every couple of days."


Then Elisa Longo Borghini didn't even get to race at all. After overcoming an early-season flu which precluded her from competing in the Omloop Het Niewsblad race, she was all set to do the Strade Bianche a race where she has previously performed well. But the computer said no, and she has had to stay at home.


"I had been really in shape for the Spring Classics. So now it's like starting winter training again; I have space in my house to do gym work and the rollers. Using Zwift helps, as the time passes faster than with just music. [....] I just have to believe things will come good. I need to do what my trainer says and what my country says, to protect the weakest. My motivation to train is knowing that once I am able to wear an Italian jersey, I will wear it with pride." 


For new rider, Teniel Campbell she has had a lot to process. In this, her first year as professional, after arriving from Trinidad and Tobago and completing the UCI training course in Switzerland, Campbell was all set to make her mark. She became the first woman from Trinidad and Tobago to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics cycle road race, and with her Valcar-Travel & Service Team she had finished in the top five in a few races.

Based in Bergamo, the epicentre of the pandemic in Italy, and for a time in Europe, Campbell has had to deal not just with being unable to ride as normal, but also living alone through the angst, anxiety and ambulance sirens far away from her family.


"Initially professional riders could train on the roads, and my coach told me I must always cycling in the company of another rider, which was safer because some drivers got angry at us when they saw us on the roads and would honk their horns a lot more. But now under complete quarantine, the only time I go outdoors is to the supermarket or to take out the garbage.

"It has become a mental challenge. I am alone in the house and I am also now training alone indoors. However, I have the necessary support both in Trinidad and Tobago and from my team here in Italy. I have realised I do not know how not to be an athlete. For two years, I have been a full-time elite athlete 24 hours a day - training, stressing my body, coming home tired, eating, sleeping.[....] Now there is more free time, I must find a way to make the most of my time and be productive. It's not easy, but this too shall pass." 


No doubt turbo trainers and Zwift apps are getting used to the maximum right now, and I guess there's a lot of discipline and self-control needed to avoid the biscuit tin or the wine rack.
In addition, team support has become ever more important, with sports directors, coaches, and other team mates having to look out for one another, as the mental health is just important, if not more important than the physical health of the riders.

It is not clear how long the lockdown will continue for, or when this dreaded disease will subside, but we can only hope that riders and teams will come out on the other side of this scourge without long-lasting scars.

Here is the full article on the Cycling Weekly website


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52 Cycling Voices: Rebecca Charlton

Daily photo - 17: Enjoy what you do

Abi Van Twisk (first left) next to Lizzie Deignan, who is beside Elisa Longo Borghini

It's always a nice surprise to see a piece that you sent to a publisher being published - especially when you weren't expecting to see it.
So it was nice to see the piece that I did after interviewing Abi Van Twisk from Trek-Segafredo, being published on the Velovixen women's cycle wear blog. I remember seeing Abi race cyclocross as a junior a few years ago. She was pretty good and lapped me quite easily. She's a young'un so I guess I wouldn't expect anything less!

It is good to see her racing on the world stage now alongside the likes of Lizzie Deignan, Elisa Longo-Borghini and other top riders. Abi took a bit of time out to chat about her bike riding. Like a lot of people say, not just in cycle racing but in any walk of life, the important thing is to first and foremost enjoy what you do. There's no need to over complicate matters. Just do it and take pleasure in what you do, then the rest will follow. I think I will take a leaf out of Abi's book.

The full article is here.
Enjoying the Ride is what matters


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52 Cycling Voices - 11: Giorgia Bronzini

Giorgia Bronzini is a two-time world road champion from 2010 and 2011. She is now one of the veterans in the women’s road racing peloton, but shows no signs of slowing down. Having gained a win at the recent Amgen  Breakaway from Heart Disease Women's Tour of California, plus podium places at that race and in the Tour de Yorkshire, Giorgia still has a phenomenal turn of pace as she showed in the stage to Sacramento earlier in the week.

I have interviewed Gio (as people call her) a number of times, and I have always found her cheerful, smiling, and with a very zen philosophy about bike racing.

Giorgia Bronzini, aged 33

From: Piacenza, Italy

Professional cycle racer for Wiggle High5

photo from www.wigglehighfive.com

"I come from Piacenza, a small city to the south of Milan that is half the size of Manchester. Piacenza has many churches and the centre dates from medieval times. It is easy to get out of the city and there is a river that leads from there to the sea at Genova in Liguria. Sometimes in the summer I ride this route, which is 130km and then get a lift back home.

Piacenza is a good area for cycling but not a lot of professional cyclists live there. It’s probably because in the winter the weather is not so fun as it is very foggy, and and in the summer it is quite hot and humid. Spring is perfect, and you can do a circuit with mountains and flat roads.

I was a gymnast from age 5 to age 11 and at that time gymnastics classes were very strict and very serious, but I didn’t like being told what to do. I got bored and I wanted to play.

My father had a passion for cycling, and one day when there was a bike race for kids in Piacenza he took me to see this race. I saw a lot of children with bikes and they looked very happy, so I asked my father to let me have a go. He took me to join a small team who gave me a bike, and I decided that this was my sport.  After all my training from gymnastics I found my first bike race so easy. I had a lot of energy and I won comfortably. I was so happy to go home with a trophy!

No one else in my family practices sport to a professional level, but my father and my brother, who is 10 years older than me were very encouraging.  

There are many women who cycle in Italy and amateur cycling in Italy is very developed. You always find a father who races along with his son and other members of the family. Cycling has been a sport for all ages, although now it has been overtaken by football. 

For me, cycling is a large part of my life. Through cycling I have been around the world to many different countries and discovered different cultures. I like to learn about different nationalities and cultures.  Perhaps some of my schoolmates are just working in the local supermarket in Italy now, but I feel I have a lot of things to share with them about my experiences and this could make their lives feel enriched. I never wanted to have a boring life, and cycling can never be boring!

When I won the World Road Race Championships in 2010 at Geelong it was unexpected. No one expected it, not even me!  The following year, in Copenhagen the other girls were really hoping to get the rainbow jersey. I knew this, but I was relaxed and I didn’t think I could win two years in a row.  But it just happened that the Italian team worked well to put me in the perfect position to be there in the final sprint. I couldn’t believe it because in all the sprints I had done that year, against Marianne Vos and Ina Teutenberg I had lost to them both. And the World Championships was the only time that I beat them! That was a highlight of my career. 

However, my low point was at the World Championships in 2014 in Pontferrada. I really prepared for that one, and I really worked hard to be there as it was a harder course. I crashed in the race and used all my power to get back in the race for the final sprint, but I came fourth. I was a bit upset because I did all that work for nothing. Then the following year, in Richmond, USA I just broke my bike at 800m to go, so that was a bit unlucky.

I was unlucky those two years, but then again I had been lucky in 2010 and 2011 – probably when some other people were unlucky. That’s life. I will just wait my turn for the wins to come back again.

Last year was a tough year for me because the Rio Olympics were on and the hilly course was not the best for me but I put myself there to be part of the Olympic team, which is the dream of every athlete. I knew that this could be important for Elisa (Longo-Borghini) and I wanted to help her to try and get the medal. It worked because she got a bronze medal in the road race. 

However for me, I had worked hard to be selected for the Olympics, and this had involved changing my schedule so that I could be better on the climbs. I was therefore unable to think about my goals or my victories during that time.  

I was going to retire in 2016, but I didn’t enjoy the racing so much that year and I didn’t want to stop racing while having those feelings. So straight after the Olympics Rochelle [Gilmore] asked me if I was really really sure I wanted to finish career in that season. She offered me a one year contract, which I accepted.

Interviewing Gio at the Ride London GP in 2014 (photo by Andy Jones)

I am no longer going to schedule a date to retire! At least for this year I would like to feel relaxed and finish my season and achieve the best that I can for myself and the team, and after I will see how I feel at the end of the season. If you are going to finish your career you should finish with a smile and feel satisfied with what you did, and then you can really feel ready to say “now I’m going to stop.” I don’t want to stop when I am feeling grumpy or with tears. So I will wait first before deciding to retire from racing.

For this year I would like to have some wins on the road, though I have not got specific races that I would like to win. And I would like to prepare for the World Road Race Championships in Norway, for the end of the season. My biggest opponent for that event will be the weather. Being Italian, I prefer good weather! So I will need to work on my mindset to be prepared for bad weather.

Being involved with my team mates or sometimes with the national team and helping the younger girls really motivates me. I like to give advice and inspire them. Being with younger riders also makes me feel younger! It is important for me to train so that I can be healthy enough to ride with them and help them! Being able to play a part in a victory from a team member also motivates me to get out and train. 

For example, when I saw Elisa (Longo Borghini) win Strade Bianche this year I was almost crying. Everything was against us that day – there was a crash, a bike change, another bike change, I had to work to pace Elisa back up to the group, Claudia (Lichtenberg) worked with her too, so we all worked together to get that one victory. And that meant a lot to me. Also because some of the girls in my team are my friends I really feel good about working for them. 

I am looking forward to the Women’s Tour as I really like that race. Some days it can be a bit cold for me, but the organisation, the treatment the racers receive, the hospitality is really good. I think the UK is developing women’s cycling a lot. With the track riders and the road riders I think Great Britain is going in the right direction to grow women’s cycling, and I would like to see other nationalities be inspired by Great Britain.

I think that Italian riders who want to develop would be better to race in a foreign team because there they can get the professionalism and learn a lot more. In an Italian team they are protected in a bubble and don’t develop enough. In Italy they are trying to develop the teams with a professionalism, but there is a problem of lack of funding (rather than a lack of willingness). We have some good junior riders in Italy, but if they want to develop they should take their CV to foreign teams in Belgium, Holland, or the UK.

Italy is an old nation and you really can feel that men’s and women’s cycling racing is separate. It is great that we have a women’s Giro d’Italia though. That means a lot to me, and every year the organisers of the women's Giro d'Italia put in a lot of effort to try to give a good stage race over there so I really appreciate that.  For the men’s Giro d’Italia they sometimes invite us to commentate during the stages, so that is how they include women in the event. They have invited me in the past, and if I am able to go then of course I will be there.  

My ideal day out on a bike would be to ride with mates on a sunny day in Tuscany (though not on a Strada Bianca)!  I would do a coastal road that climbs above the coast with good views. Then in the evening I would sit down in a restaurant and have good food and wine. I usually like seafood pasta (Spaghetti allo scoglio). My favourite wine is Prosecco. In red, I like Amaroni, a wine from the Veneto region. I also like Gutturnio, a red fizzy wine from my region. I like this one because it reminds me of home.

Winning a stage of the 2017 Tour of California (www.wigglehighfive.com)

I never go out cycling without my smile! To have a good day I need to be smiling, and in anything that I do if I do it without smiling it ends up sh1t! So most of the time I want to be positive, and most of the time I am. Bad or unlucky things can happen, but it’s you that is going to turn the day around, and with a smile things end up not so bad. 

A person who really inspires me is Usain Bolt, because I think he is amazing. He is perfect! He is fast, has a good body, is funny, smiling all the time, so for me, when I look at him, I think 'Yeah, he is cool!'”    

Twitter: @GiorgiaBronzini     Instagram: giorgia_bronzini       Blog on Wiggle H5 website


Other Cycling Voices

Tracy Moseley

Geraldine Glowinski

Emily Chappell

Michelle Webster

Grace and Lucy Garner

Hannah Bussey

Carolyn Hewett-Maessen

Caroline Martinez

Niusha Doyom

Maria David