Advice from two greats of Paris-roubaix
Before Paris-roubaix, Israel Start-up Nation’s Guillaume Boivin got advice from two notable riders who’d been on the podium of that cobbled Classic. One of Boivin’s sport directors, Dirk Demol, won Roubaix in 1988. About two weeks after the 2021 edition, Boivin remembered Demol’s words, “He said, ‘Trust a guy who’s won this race before, you can go really far in that race and be a player in the final,’” Boivin recalled. Demol’s analysis complemented what Boivin had learned at the world championship race the week before the Hell of the North. He had the legs to follow the best in the world; he only needed confidence to bolster his form. During Paris-roubaix, Demol continued to motivate Boivin as the rider matched Mathieu van der Poel and Sonny Colbrelli, move for move. Even though Boivin had a crash on the Camphin-en-pévèle sector, he rode on to an impressive ninth place.
At the world championships, Steve Bauer was the sport director for the Canadian team. In 1990, Bauer was second at Roubaix, missing out on the win by 1 cm. His is the best result by a Canadian. “I spent the week at Steve’s house between the world championships and Roubaix. I picked his brain on Roubaix the whole week, just trying to get some tips and how to race it. His biggest advice was, no matter what, just ride in the middle. Always in the middle. Don’t go to the sides. Straight in the middle. And he’d repeat that four of five times a day.” Boivin said. The middle of a pavé sector, as opposed to the sides or even wheel ruts, offers riders the best traction and control, most of the time.
“If you look back at the race,” Boivin said, “sometimes van der Poel and Colbrelli would go on the ditch on the side and I was staying in the middle of the cobbles because I could hear Steve saying, ‘Just stay in the middle, boy. Stay in the middle.’”