The fading glory of Paris-Roubaix

Road cycling enthusiasts know very well, that there was no Paris-Roubaix in 2020. The „Hell of the North” was the only big road cycling event facing such difficulties to be organised during the pandemic that it had to be cancelled for that year, and it was held in autumn in the next one. 

Thus the almost 1000-day hiatus between two Paris-Roubaix editions became symbolic in several ways in the most recent history of road cycling. 

For many years, Paris-Roubaix used to be my favourite race. I assume that the level of intensity made it to me that special. From all the five Monuments, this one encapsulated the heroic self-representation, such an important element in the early days of this sport, the most. 

The cobblestones. 

The dusty or muddy faces. 

Iconic image of an unrecognisably muddy faces cyclists during Paris-Roubaix 2001, one of the muddiest edition of "Hell of the North" in the 21st century
Paris-Roubaix 2001

Even the crashes look sometimes like Renaissance or Baroque paintings. 

And then came that cold and wet October Sunday in 2021, when I had to ask from myself: 

what the hell I’m watching exactly? 

Suddenly it seemed like a terrible, nasty business with unnecessary cruelty towards the cyclists. I’m completely aware that there are people out there enjoying watching crashes at road cycling races. Furthermore, there are quite a few emotionally unintelligent creatures admitting proudly that they watch road cycling only for the big crashes. And don’t be mistaken, when I saidel earlier that crashes are at Paris-Roubaix sometimes look like perfectly composed classic paintings, I did it, as I always do, with a huge amount of moral uneasiness. 

Because crashes are never fun. 

It’s not what road cycling is about. Or should be about. Not people literally rooting for more and more accidents for the sake of „good show”. For the false satisfaction of not being bored. That beforementioned unique level of intensity shouldn’t be built up from this element only. 

 And that’s the point where the almost 1000-day hiatus between two Paris-Roubaix editions gains its importance. I would have probably not felt being that mortified by the display of that autumn edition of Paris-Roubaix, if modern day road cycling wouldn’t have gone through one of its most important transformations during this time period. 

 A new, very special generation completed its conquest in the world of road cycling.

 And a new "Golden Age" has arrived. 

 Playfulness, fiercenes, and endless joy are the words come to my mind when I try to describe this new era. 

And the beauty in it is that this type of racing doesn’t requires special surfaces and roadtypes. Unpredictibility, therefore intensity doesn’t requires high possibility of accidents. It might more easily come rather from creativity and attack-firendlieness of the contributors. To be not afraid of taking risk and sometimes fail (not fall!). From the endless joy, fierceness and playfulness. 

A rich history can emphasise the significance of a road cycling race. This is a sport that has a really strong connection to its constantly retold self-mythology. And indeed, Paris-Roubaix has a chequered but meaningful past. But it's never a good idea to stick to the illusion of the "good old days" too strickly. What meant to be heroic (a valuable thing in this context) among certain circumstances, could sound nosense, useless, or even harmful in other ones.

Paris-Roubaix has a glorious past, a glorious history, but so many things changed witihin the world of road cycling, also outside the world of road cycling, that it's no more enought to have a rich history. This is what I call "the fading glory of Paris-Roubaix".

Popular posts from this blog

Monument winner of the day: Cyrille Van Hauwaert

Image
Cyrille Van Hauwaert (1883-1974) was one of the most successful Belgian cyclists of the pre-WWI era.  Van Hauwaert’s story reads like a folk legend. A big, strong Flemish farm boy who didn’t speak French, he arrived at the office of La Française cycling team’s directeur sportif, Pierre Pierrard, just two days before the Paris-Roubaix 1907. In his hand was a letter of recommendation from a regional agent of the bicycle manufacturer sponsoring the team.  Despite the late hour and the lack of available pacemakers to support him, Pierrard took a chance, ordering the mechanics to set up a bicycle for the young Belgian. With instructions to keep up with the pack as long as he could, Van Hauwaert exceeded expectations.  In a stunning debut, he finished second, just behind the winner, Georges Passerieu.  Van Hauwaert’s next race was the prestigious Bordeaux-Paris, where he emerged as the top rider, cementing his reputation as a powerful competitor.  The following yea...
Read more

Monument winner of the day: Hippolyte Aucouturier

Image
Who else could be the first cyclist of the series  about Monument winners than the epitome of early day road cycling races, Hippolyte Aucouturier (1876-1944). The image of a French cyclist in a striped shirt may feel like a cliché, but sometimes stereotypes hold a surprising amount of truth. Recognizable for his distinctive outfit, Hippolyte Aucouturier  also found considerable success during his career, active from 1900 to 1908 as an independent rider.   He claimed victory at the 1903 Paris-Roubaix under rather chaotic circumstances. Traditionally, riders switched bikes upon entering the velodrome, but when Aucouturier arrived alongside Claude Chaperon, Chaperon mistakenly grabbed Louis Trousselier's bike. By the time he realized and corrected his mistake, Aucouturier had surged ahead, winning the race.   Following this victory, Aucouturier was one of the favorites for the inaugural Tour de France. He abandoned the first stage due to stomach pains, bu...
Read more

The unpleasant anachronism of the Cycling Monuments

Image
There is a reason, obviously, why they called that. The five most prestigious one-day races, traditionally called Monuments, are carrying history. Sometimes not just road cycling history but they also remind us of pivotal moments from the history of Europe in the 20th century.  In 1981, Bernard Hinault delivered a spectacular Paris-Roubaix victory fuelled rather with anger and frustration. After the race he called Paris-Roubaix a bullshit All the five Monuments was born in the first great era of road cycling competitions ended with the outbreak of Word War I. Liege-Bastogne-Liege , a classic amateur cycling tourist adventure in 1892, Paris-Roubaix , a typical French cycling enterprise in 1896, the two Italian (more precisely, and not coincidently at all, two Lombardian) events, Giro di Lombardia in 1905, Milano-Sanremo 1907, and finally, Ronde van Vlaanderen in 1913, these latter three following the French recipe too, as newspapers were heavily involved in the founding process o...
Read more