THE APPEAL OF THE PARIS-ROUBAIX

Looking at that group of bikes tackling the muddy road reminded me of the pioneering days of nearly all sports. Time (or better, the evolution of the different activities) has all but cancelled out the tiring discomfort of a competition where weather conditions can interfere with the outcome of athletic effort. In a world where billions for some and millions for others quite rightly set us thinking whether the need really exists to expose athletes to avoidable risks, some exceptions still remain that take a branch of a sport back to the “early days”. For cycling, this exception is called the Paris-Roubaix, the classic pre-Easter challenge that takes competitors from the French capital to the Belgian town just 254 kilometres away. In fact, the race has little of the classic track event. Whosoever were to see the cyclists as they cover the last few metres of the exhausting competition in the velodrome where the race finishes, might well ask themselves from which lost part of our planet they come. Mud masks on bikes splashed with every conceivable colour. Last weekend, the rain decided to make its appearance on a difficult route and the “cyclists’ hell” was thus able to express all its potential to the full. The road itself was completely cancelled out and transformed into a quagmire that produced one fall after the other. Not to speak of the usual hammering pavé, in itself a torture for the arms and buttocks of the athletes. The race was won by a Dutchman, Servais Knaven; but for lovers of the spring classic, this last edition marked the end of the career of an Italian who Roubaix has gone so far as to nominate honorary citizen. Not many people in Italy perhaps will recall Franco Ballerini in a few years time; but his three wins in this hellish competition make him one of the most acclaimed athletes for those that consider the Paris-Roubaix the cycle race par excellence. That where the heart, legs and head often have to contend with crazy weather conditions, making the race an epic feat, an effort at the very limits of human endeavour. For the locals, Ballerini is one of the sacred “devils” appearing out of the delirium of mud, rain and sweat that makes what is one of the last examples of primordial challenge so fascinating. The Italian chose this race, which has seen him dominate so often, to say goodbye to competitive cycling; for sure he would have liked to take a more dignified place than the 32nd. But having chosen to end his career on foreign soil is a clear sign of just how important the result was for Franco. What counts was written on a vest uncovered at the finishing line and protected against the weather by a wind-cheater: “Thanks Roubaix”, thanks for everything. “Without this race, I would probably not have been able to close on such a high note. Without this race, as some of my middle-class colleagues would no doubt have preferred, I should never have discovered what competing against everything and everyone really means.”