DENAIN, France (VN) – A working day out in “hell” usually takes some planning.
From the meticulously strapped riders’ fingers to the finely tuned group bikes and carefuly thought of diet designs, Paris-Roubaix Femmes pushes the restrictions of what the pro peloton is accustomed to.
And the story’s the exact for the very carefully stocked cars that immediate group techniques and support riders with wheels, bikes and gels by way of 125km of the “Hell of the North.”
“For Roubaix nowadays it is heading to be a great deal extra nuts than any other race. It’s heading to be chaos in the peloton, and guiding the peloton for us in the autos. On a day like these days, earning positive the vehicle has every little thing feasible we could want is pretty significant,” AG Coverage-NXTG Group director Christian Kos instructed VeloNews soon in advance of having powering the wheel Saturday early morning.
“And the driving? Ooofff, Driving a staff car at any race is like possessing a race driving the race. Nowadays could be really stress filled for certain … We’re not pressured however … still. We’ll have to struggle more than the cobbles the exact as the riders.”
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Kos, the just lately retired pro-turned-DS Jolien d’Hoore, and crew mechanics have been fast paced loading the AG Insurance coverage-NXTG automobile with iPads, wheels, and software bins in a flurry of action ahead of the start of the “Hell of the North” at the startline in Denain.
The U23 Belgian-registered staff was preparing to make an impact in the breakaway, and almost everything experienced to be “just so.”
Pinarello bikes had been loaded onto the roof in a pre-determined placement. Just about every iPad had a specified place in the car’s cockpit. A wheel-altering energy drill had its possess property together with the mechanic’s seat.
Oh, and a strengthened metallic plate was coming for a journey, way too.
“We have a specific plate beneath the vehicle for protection. We added it just for currently,” Kos said. “This race is the only time it’s used and results in being practical. But we want to have it below the motor vehicle to safeguard all the pieces. With any luck ,, we really don’t genuinely need it. The recon wasn’t so bad, but it feels like anything at all can come about in this race.”
Some 5 hrs afterwards, Kos and Co. effectively navigated their six young racers through “hell.”
Staff chief Mylène de Zoete didn’t beat the time reduce, but Gaia Masetti built the split, and Ilse Pluimers blasted to a standout 23rd spot.
“My legs have been fantastic today and I managed to stick to the first group on the cobbles nicely. Unfortunately, I crashed in the closing for the reason that they fell in front of me. I then rode from team to team and completed in 23rd location,” Pluimers stated. “Compared to previous yr it was a significantly better race for me. The positioning went great and Jolien and Christian served me truly very well from the automobile.”
Here’s a tour of the Skoda Octavia team car or truck that stored Pluimers serviced and in situation at the 2022 Paris-Roubaix Femmes.