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Mathieu van der Poel admitted that a few of the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix are on the restrict of what a highway bike is able to as he prepares to defend his title in Sunday’s race.
When requested about essentially the most harmful a part of the race, Van der Poel’s reply was revealing of simply how robust some sectors en route are.
“For me, I believe the cobbles are usually not meant to be ridden with a highway bike to be sincere,” he mentioned. “The opposite ones [sectors] are fairly unhealthy however doable, however going into Arenberg at 65 kilometres an hour has nothing to do with talent, it’s simply hoping the bike holds it.”
Coming into this 12 months’s version of the Hell of the North, all eyes are on Van der Poel and his Alpecin-Deceuninck crew. Because the defending champion of the race, and with the crew claiming two Monument victories already in 2024, it is exhausting to look previous the Belgium outfit.
When requested if there’s something completely different about his bike set-up particular to Sunday’s race he replied: “For Roubaix? In fact.”
Even among the many cobbled Classics the torture that the pavé in Roubaix places on riders and gear is a stage above the remaining. The cobbles are rougher and the velocity greater leaving riders scrambling to discover a technique to make the 55.7km of cobbles tolerable.
Van der Poel went on to clarify that he has learnt quite a bit relating to gear set-up for the cobbled races after struggling in final 12 months’s Tour of Flanders, the place his tyres in the end struggled for traction while Tadej Pogacar sailed away to take the win.
In an sincere recollection, Van der Poel defined: “Final 12 months I struggled a bit really [in the Tour of Flanders] when Pogačar was using wider tyres. He was actually flying on the cobbles.”
On this 12 months’s version of the Tour of Flanders, Van der Poel put this data to good use, admitting to stopping and reducing his tyre pressures twice in the course of the race.
“I ended twice to vary the tyre strain as a result of I already noticed it was going to rain within the remaining and I understand how slippery cobbles are.”
With the forecast trying unsure for Sunday’s race, Van der Poel and his teammates may have to make use of an analogous technique if they’re to navigate the likes of the Arenberg forest and Carrefour de l’Arbre with out incident.
Though seemingly retaining his playing cards near his chest relating to the specifics of his bike set-up, Van der Poel did reveal that he could be utilizing 32mm tyres and double-wrapped bars in an try and tame the 29 sectors of pavé that litter the course from Compiègne to the velodrome in Roubaix.
32mm tyres is likely to be a typical sight throughout the peloton come Sunday however that is the exception to the norm, very like Roubaix is an exception to different races. Van der Poel admitted to feeling extra at dwelling on 28mm tyres for many different races.
“In Roubaix, we journey tyres we usually don’t however for the remaining, I don’t adapt an excessive amount of, I simply put double handlebar tape and wider tyres and that’s about it really.”
Taking a better have a look at Van der Poel’s bike after his pre-race press convention, it was clear to see that he’s pushing the boundaries of his Canyon Aeroad CFR to the max with the 32mm tyres solely simply becoming behind the cut-away seat tube. If there’s rain on Sunday, mud clearance may turn into an element.
Time will inform if Van der Poel’s learnings from earlier cobbled races will show pivotal on Sunday.
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