Wout Van Aert tests his legs and equipment during the recon ride ahead of Paris-Roubaix 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)Jumbo-Visma ride trough the rain and puddles along the pave sectors (Image credit: Getty Images)Jumbo-Visma riders during the recon ride ahead of Paris-Roubaix 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)
FDJ-SUEZ preview the course at Paris-Roubaix Femmes 2023 (Image credit: FDJ-SUEZ)This is more like what the Arenberg Forest will look like on Saturday and Sunday (Image credit: Getty Images)The Arenberg Forest is clear thanks to an eco-friendly goat weed remediation (Image credit: Getty Images)Connor Swift of Ineos Grenadiers during the recon ride ahead of Paris-Roubaix 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)Movistar during the recon ride ahead of Paris-Roubaix 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)FDJ-SUEZ preview the course at Paris-Roubaix Femmes 2023 (Image credit: FDJ-SUEZ)Cobblestone pictured during the reconnaissance of the sector ahead of Paris-Roubaix 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)Fans are out to view Movistar during the recon ride ahead of Paris-Roubaix 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)FDJ-SUEZ preview the course at Paris-Roubaix Femmes 2023 (Image credit: FDJ-SUEZ)Jumbo-Visma riders pictured during the reconnaissance of the pave ahead of this year's Paris-Roubaix (Image credit: Getty Images)Wout Van Aert and Jumbo-Visma bundled up during the recon ride ahead of Paris-Roubaix 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)Wout van Aert during the recon ride ahead of Paris-Roubaix 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)Ivan Garca Cortina during the recon ride ahead of Paris-Roubaix 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)Movistar Team during the Paris-Roubaix 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)Juri Hollmann hits the cobbles for a preview ahead of the big race on Sunday (Image credit: Getty Images)Movistar out in the rain to preview the route for Paris-Roubaix (Image credit: Getty Images)Movistar on the slick cobbles (Image credit: Getty Images)Stan Dewulf of Ag2R Citreon during the recon ride ahead of Paris-Roubaix 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)Greg Van Avermaet during the recon ride ahead of Paris-Roubaix 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)Andre Carvalho of Portugal of Cofidis during the Paris-Roubaix training ride (Image credit: Getty Images)Riders detail view of Ag2R Citreon Team during the Paris-Roubaix 2023 recon ride (Image credit: Getty Images)Alexis Renard and Max Walscheid from Cofidis during the recon ride ahead of Paris-Roubaix 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)Wesley Kreder and Jelle Wallays from Cofidis (Image credit: Getty Images)Riders recon the cobble sectors ahead of Paris-Roubaix (Image credit: Getty Images)Antoine Raugel and Greg Van Avermaet ride along the rain-soaked and muddy sectors of Paris-Roubaix (Image credit: Getty Images)Greg Van Avermaet leads AG2R on a recon ride (Image credit: Getty Images)Michael Schar during the recon ride ahead of Paris-Roubaix 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)Workers repair cobblestones on the route of the Paris-Roubaix near Arenberg (Image credit: Getty Images)Workers repair cobblestones on the route of the Paris-Roubaix (Image credit: Getty Images)Goats are brought to graze the weed on a cobblestone sector of the Paris-Roubaix at the Trouee d'Arenberg (Image credit: Getty Images)Wout Van Aert out to view the cobbles (Image credit: Getty Images)Rider detail view of Movistar riding the route of Paris-Roubaix two days ahead of the race (Image credit: Getty Images)Michael Schar riding through the rain to view the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix (Image credit: Getty Images)Trouee d'Arenberg ahead of Paris-Roubaix 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)Cobblestones sector detail view during the Paris-Roubaix 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)Yves Lampaert and Tim Merlier during the preview ahead of Paris-Roubaix 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)Tim Merlier during the preview ahead of Paris-Roubaix 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)Edvald Boasson Hagen during the preview ahead of Paris-Roubaix 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)Cobblestones sector detail view during the Paris-Roubaix 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)Tim Declercq during the preview ahead of Paris-Roubaix 2023 (Image credit: Getty Images)
The scenes from this year's Paris-Roubaix reconnaissance recalled the horrific conditions riders endured in the October edition of the Spring Classic in 2021: a steady drizzle, wet cobbles, dirty bikes and riders.
There will be a major contrast between the pre-race rides and Saturday's Paris-Roubaix Femmes and Sunday's Paris-Roubaix hommes, as the sun is expected to emerge and dry up the puddles and turn mud to dust, making for a fast course.
Photographers braved the foul conditions to capture favourite Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) previewing the route while wearing his new 'brain' helmet. He was not riding the adjustable tyre pressure KAPS system but confirmed he is using SRAM's 1X system already seen on his bike in Milan-San Remo.
“It was filthy, raining, the cobbles were greasy and it was cold,” van Aert told HLN.
“It was one of those training sessions where you count down until you see the bus.”
The French-registered Women's WorldTeam was out on Friday to preview the cobbles. Grace Brown along with her teammates were wearing their special edition orange jerseys used for training, to raise awareness for cyclists' safety,
Some teams, including Ineos Grenadiers and EF Education-TIBCO-SVB moved their final recon ride to Wednesday to avoid the bad weather and enjoyed spring-like weather. Similar weather is expected at the weekend.
Most teams, including Mathieu van der Poel and Alpecin-Deceuninck carried out their final recon ride on Friday morning to avoid Thursday's rain and see how the cobbles are drying out.
Such is the danger of wet cobbles that riders were concerned about crashing during Thursday's ride.
In 2021, Ellen van Dijk (Trek-Segafredo) crashed four times during the race and suffered for months from lingering concussion symptoms. She, fortunately, had the off-season to recover since the race was held on October after being postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Ineos Grenadiers' Filippo Ganna did his recon last week and will only travel to France on Friday after spending a week training in Italy. Ganna described the race accurately, saying it was "like playing Russian roulette".
"You’d have to be a bit crazy to like Roubaix, it's so painful, so hard on your body," he added.
That didn't stop riders from giving their equipment and bodies one last test before the weekend's Hell of the North.
Enjoy the recon gallery by clicking or swiping through the gallery above.
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