Mons-en-Pévèle: the end is nigh! (5/7)

March 23 ^rd 2017 - 17:42

On the tracks of the cobbles…

Each week, letour.fr will be taking a detailed look at a place that has marked the history of Paris-Roubaix. The series continues at the section of Mons-en-Pévèle, where the race takes on an extreme dimension and where the highest of hopes are severely tested.

Days that include more than 200 kilometres on a bicycle are not so frequent during the season. By the time the pack approaches Mons-en-Pévèle, they have already exceeded this distance. Furthermore, the build up of shakes on the cobbles has martyrized the riders’ hands, wrists and legs for a cumulative total of more than 40 kilometres. Over more than three kilometres of especially bumpy cobbles, the elite group of the pack is reduced to a handful of potential winners. Only the strongest, those who have what it takes to triumph, are able to resist within the leading group, as the man in charge of the route, Thierry Gouvenou, explains: “This section is a genuine indicator of just how able a rider will be in negotiating the final part of the race”. In an even more categorical fashion, the winner of the 1988 edition, Dirk Demol, has the memory of “a place that is a real ordeal. It feels like it will never end. Yet, that is where you genuinely know who will not be victorious in Roubaix”.
 
Keeping up with the pace is not enough at Mons-en-Pévèle. When a champion of the cobbles is in control, he can also take advantage and move into action on this portion that boasts both a slope conducive to accelerations and a good distance to open up significant gaps. In 2000 for example, this is where Johan Museeuw, accompanied by Frankie Andreu, shook off the majority of his rivals before going on to pick up his second title. His heir in the Quick Step team, Tom Boonen, imitated this feat on the day of his third triumph (in 2009), by ramping up the pressure to reduce the leading group to 6 riders. The following year, Fabian Cancellara commenced a solo breakaway at Mons-en-Pévèle for the last 50 kilometres until the cycling arena in Roubaix.

Victories can be built here, but the cobbles of Mons-en-Pévèle can also shatter dreams. George Hincapie had never seemed so close to success, following his second place in 2005, when, in 2006, the fork on his bike broke, throwing him to the ground and leaving him with a broken collar bone. Misfortune or jinxes sometimes combine with mental and physical wear and tear which provoke punctures and falls. Last year, Fabian Cancellara saw his hopes of one last victory in Roubaix crushed at Mons-en-Pévèle when he fell, whilst Peter Sagan appeared to miraculously levitate over him! At Mons-en-Pévèle, action is always guaranteed…