DAN MARTIN
Paris-Roubaix is one of the few races on the calendar that I make a point of watching each season. There really is something very special about the Hell of the North, even though it is a race I will more than likely never start, let alone finish. This year, I was watching even more closely as many of the final sections are included in the route of stage 9 of the Tour de France. Unlike some of my rivals, watching the coverage of pavé races on TV is as close as I got to a cobblestone this spring, as my race schedule is focused on the Ardennes Classics.
There are two sides to the argument of whether competing on cobbles in the spring helps come July. On one side there is nothing like attacking the cobbles in a race scenario to get a real feeling for how the equipment fares and how to ride the stones. On the other hand, the cobbled Classics carry an inherent danger. Plus, only Paris-Roubaix covers the same type of pavé and the feeling in a Tour peloton is completely different to the ‘lay it all on the line’ stress of a one-day race. When the Tour finished on the Muur de Huy in 2015, the race was ridden differently - after all there is more at stake than just victory on the day.
I plan to ride the sections closer to July to really get a feeling for the current state of the cobbles, and to fine-tune the equipment. I will rely a lot on the experience of the people around me to advise on equipment and technique, and of course my team will be very important in positioning me before each section.
I rode the cobbles during the 2015 Tour. I crashed about 2km before the first section - the worst moment possible - and then haemorrhaged time all the way to the finish. There is something about the cobbled Classics that intrigues me and I often play with the idea of one day taking to the start. But with the Classics I love following so close after, it’s something that might never happen. After all, I race to win, not to pick up starters’ medals.