Categories: NostalgiaUnforgettable Rides

Unforgettable Rides: 1993 Paris-Roubaix

In 1993, before the UCI put a stranglehold on the means by which riders sought to go faster, innovation flowed through the peloton. Training methods evolved rapidly (apparently in tandem with the potency of the drugs available at the time) and bicycle design was in a period of exciting change spurred on by Greg LeMond’s win in the 1989 Tour de France after using aerobars to overturn a 50-second deficit on Laurent Fignon.

Paris-Roubaix, more than any other event on the calendar, would see some of the most dramatic experimentation, as riders lost themselves in their pursuit to smooth out the race’s brutal terrain. In a five year span, we went from LeMond fitting Rock Shox to his bike to Johan Museeuw showing up aboard a full-suspension Bianchi. The Rock Shox were at first met with raised eyebrows and thinly-veiled snickers until Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle used them to roll over the finish line as the victor at age 37 in 1992. Not surprisingly, 1993 saw many more machines sheepishly toeing the start line with products borrowed from Mountain Bikes, including the GB Team’s custom-built Bianchi’s decorated with Softride suspension stems.

Balance is a critical component in cycling. Balance between rider and machine, of course, but also between comfort and rigidity. As anyone who has ridden with font-suspension will tell you, what is good over the cobbles may not be as good in a closely-contested finish. Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle, the defending champion, and Franco Ballerini, the upstart Italian, broke away together and, with their front-ends quivering like plates of over-cooked pasta, made their way to the velodrome.

The Italian’s confidence in his sprint was matched only by Duclos-Lassalle’s experience on the track. The two wobbled their way to the line, sprinting as hard as their soggy forks would allow and threw their bikes with a synchronization that would be the envy of any Olympic swim-dancing team.

Ballerini was certain he’d won. Duclos-Lassalle wasn’t so sure he’d lost. The referees went to the photo and served Franco a juicy slice of humble pie, in what was one of the closest finishes in Paris-Roubaix ever. Ballerini swore he’d never ride Roubaix again, but nevertheless won it in 1995 and 1998. Solo. On a bike without suspension.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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brett says:

Dec 21 2011 at 2:22 pm

@frank
Every time you stick a Softride stem and a Thudbuster post on a too-small MBÃ¸, Gene Oberpriller's kidneys cry a dusty tear for the yellow-breasted Durango wolf lark.

Yeah. It's that bad.
Steampunk says:

Dec 21 2011 at 2:24 pm

@frank

@Steampunk
Every time you post something about cobbles, it's like punching me in the feelings...

Every time you whine about the, The Prophet makes a deduction from your V-Bank account

TouchÃ©! That was more of a kidney shot. Although, I'm not quite sure what you think I'm whining about.
brett says:

Dec 21 2011 at 2:24 pm

@frank
Ballerini didn't have suspension that day either... so he got out-sprinted by a mountain biker.
frank says:

Dec 21 2011 at 2:26 pm

@brett
Too true!! Totally diggin' this baby:
frank says:

Dec 21 2011 at 2:29 pm

@brett

@frank
Ballerini didn't have suspension that day either... so he got out-sprinted by a mountain biker.

He did, actually - you can see it in this shot. Unless you're teasing me that a softride isn't really suspension.

I love that Bianchi built him a bike with a sloping-down top tube to accomodate it. Clever, actually - much better than chucking a fork in there that raises the front end of the bike.
brett says:

Dec 21 2011 at 2:50 pm

@frank
Exactly. Softride stems aren't real suspension.

Have you not been listening to me? Get yourself a 29er trail bike. That Ritchey is nice, but are you an XC racer? Well are you, punk?
Ron says:

Dec 21 2011 at 2:53 pm

I'm always completely amazed when a long, hard race, or the longest, hardest race like Paris-Roubaix comes down to a close finish. It seems like all that madness would sort things out well before the line. A photo finish though is just wild.

Wow, good on Ballerini for both swearing off the Hell of the North and for coming back and winning the bastard. That's strong work.
brett says:

Dec 21 2011 at 2:53 pm

@frank

@mcsqueak, @WV Cycling
My mountainbike still has a softride and a sus seatpost. Actually works great. I always really preferred the softride stems over rockshocks because the handled about the same interms of either changing where your bars are vs. changing your effective head tube fork rake etc with a sus fork - it all sucked back then - and really liked that the softride could do a much better job of dampening and didn't suffer from sticktion, meaning it could absorb alot more of the little bumps rather than the rock shox, which really only helped with the stuff big enough to overcome that friction in the system.

These are the words of a deranged mind.
frank says:

Dec 21 2011 at 3:08 pm

@Ron

I'm always completely amazed when a long, hard race, or the longest, hardest race like Paris-Roubaix comes down to a close finish. It seems like all that madness would sort things out well before the line. A photo finish though is just wild.
Wow, good on Ballerini for both swearing off the Hell of the North and for coming back and winning the bastard. That's strong work.

The cool thing about Roubaix is its the only race where the terrain is this hard, and there aren't any climbs to speak of. I was just browsing other pictures from 1993's cobbled classics, and Museeuw, for instance, didn't ride a tweaked bike for de Ronde - but he did for Roubaix.

As you say, to have that come down to a sprint, then - let alone a photo finish - is amazing. And sprint finishes happen pretty frequently.

@brett
You can't ignore my techno.
il ciclista medio says:

Dec 21 2011 at 3:29 pm

Nice piece frank. A sprint finish for PR; truly the epitome of a finish for the Queen don't you think?
Having just watched "Hell of the North" again (for the umpteenth time) two days ago, the mention of Duclos-Lasalle always reminds me of Stuey's comment about him - "there's hard and then there's Duclos"