Adam Hansen, the president of the Cyclistes Professionnels Associés rider association has explained how and why a chicane has been added to the Paris-Roubaix route with the aim of slowing the riders as they enter arguably the most treacherous section of cobbles.
The changes were only confirmed on Wednesday by race organiser ASO and sparked huge debate and reaction, with 2023 Paris-Roubaix winner Mathieu van der Poel asking "Is this a joke?" when a video of the chicane was published on social media by Italian journalist Stefano Rizzato.
However, other riders agreed with the changes, accepting that the chicane could still cause crashes in the run-up to the Forest of Arenberg but that it would greatly reduce the speed of the peloton as they hit the infamous cobbled sector.
Hansen confirmed to Cyclingnews that the roads on the approach to the Forest of Arenberg offered three possibilities. But one was closed due to a massive hole in the road, and another was on narrow roads. So the third option - the chicane - was preferred by ASO, who are responsible for race routes, together with local authorities.
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“I think Mathieu van der Poel preferred one of the other options,” Hansen told Cyclingnews on Thursday.
“I mentioned in an interview with Cyclist magazine that some directeur sportif had reached out and requested that the Forest of Arenberg be removed because it's so dangerous. It’s been a topic we’ve talked about for a long time, even from last year.”
“I spoke to riders and a lot are not in favour of this sector because there've been so many bad crashes. We want to try and make the sport safer, right? And so as a first step I asked ASO if some kind of deviation or chicane could be put in place. I didn’t want to consult the riders only for ASO only to say no but ASO were very much in favour of supporting the idea.”
The three options indicated on a map show two options via the residential side streets on the road to the Forest of Arenberg. However, they were not practical solutions and the riders were overwhelmingly in favour of the chicane design.
“I reached out to the riders via their team representatives. I also looked at the Paris-Roubaix start list and contacted a number of riders. I was at the Tour of Flanders last week and I spoke to riders and the team management there too, so I covered all the teams and all the riders.”
“I asked if they were against the idea but nobody said they were. I asked the riders and a vast majority of the riders agreed.”
“The options were to either go directly into the Forest of Arenberg, or one of these three options. That was the simplest way to decide. They could have all voted to go directly into Arenberg but they didn’t.”
ASO first indicated the addition of a chicane on Tuesday during their final reconnaissance of the cobbled sectors, with race director and former rider Thierry Gouvenou in favour of the changes.
“This was not meant to blow up into a big story just before the race,” Hansen said.
“There are always going to be a few riders against our propositions but most riders were in favour and preferred to stay quiet about it.”
“They perhaps don't want to be looked at as being soft while there are always some that'll show their strength and say the Arenberg is not a problem.”
“But it is and now we’ve found a solution that most riders are happy with. The forest of Arenberg and so Paris-Roubaix is now safer.”
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