A Saturday in Hell
It’s the most brutal race of the year – 29.2km of the worst cobbles northern France has to offer, over 17 agonising sectors, starting in Denain and nishing in the iconic Roubaix velodrome. For the men, it’s referred to as a Sunday in Hell, but for us, hell comes a day early.
I have raced all four Parisroubaix Femmes, each with very different conditions and very different outcomes. From a muddy slip and slide to a dry, dusty edition, and solo victory to unexpected breakaway win, our short history has covered a lot. is year again brought new circumstances with a surprise April heatwave of 25°C, as well as high winds, making it a very fast, nervous race.
I have learnt a lot about how to tackle the cobbles over each of the four editions, specically how to protect my hands from blisters. e rst year was denitely a matter of learning the hard way, as I covered my hands in as much tape and plasters as humanly possible, as well as two pairs of gloves, creating the perfect amount of friction to result in blisters the size of golf balls across my palms. e fact that I’d never done a recon before the race, along with the course being covered in enough mud for a pig’s bath, meant I was also not in the most relaxed position on the bike and spent most of the time gripping the bars for dear life. In this case I feel less is certainly more and with just a simple one-layer-glove technique, I can happily report my hands came away from this year’s Roubaix unscathed. Another aspect that’s also changed over the years is the materials and bike set-up used, which have evolved to provide a much more ‘comfy’ ride (relatively speaking). Our set-up this year included 32mm tyres with a shock absorption insert, a suspension seatpost and extra padding on the bars, which all helped alleviate some of the cobbles’ brutality. It has certainly come a long way since the 21mm 100psi times, so who knows, maybe in 10 years’ time it will feel less like the worst cobbles of northern France, and more like the perfectly maintained bike paths in the south of Holland.
Pfei er Georgi took third at Paris-roubaix and rides for Dsm-firmenich Postnl