Hayman fights back on the Carrefour. Photo: @harminator
Failure and success are destinations not often visible to the traveller. This is why it is nice to focus instead on the beauty of the journey and try not to be become overly fixated on any particular outcome. It is with some regret that I admit I didn’t invent this idea; there might be a few religions and philosophies out there that have stumbled upon this concept before me. The best you can do when you are born an idiot is read the works of those who weren’t idiots and then proclaim their ideas as your own.
One of the characteristics that separates successful people from the others is less their intelligence or an uncanny ability to get things right, but more their ability to keep fighting even when a situation is hopeless. I haven’t done any research on this, but I can recognize a fact by how it feels, so I’m pretty sure it’s right.
The final of Paris-Roubaix this year was the best edition of the race that I’ve seen during my lifetime and probably the best single bike race I’ve ever watched. It wasn’t so much for the result or the fact that Roubaix is my favorite race, but for the fight that every rider showed. No secteur of pavé is easy, but the Trouée Arenberg and the Carrefour stand out easily as being the hardest of them all. Most secteurs, however brutal they are, hide within them a secret to how to pass through fairly swiftly; they typically have a crown which stands above the rest of the stones and it provides something resembling safe passage. But these two sections are brutal things; the state of their cobbles is such that one imagines a bitter old French road worker dumping wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow of stones along the road, taking a look back at his work and deciding that neatly laid cobblestones are a luxury not everyone is entitled to experience.
The Arenberg comes early in the race; a contributing factor but rarely decisive. The Carrefour, on the other hand, is late in the race and decides everything. The biggest problem is that the riders have close to 250km of racing in their legs, and bad pavé has a habit of stopping your bike in ways we don’t often encounter; blow after blow after blow from the stones in rapid-fire succession, soaking speed from the machine one dirty cobble at a time. Accelerating again once the speed is lost is almost impossible; and if you watch the overhead shot of Boonen diving into the last corner of the Carrefour and coming to a stop, you will see the way he fights with his bike to get it back up to speed. He is not of this world; for us mortals, the ask is too great.
I had given Matt Hayman for dropped at the Carrefour, only to watch him claw his way back. Sep Vanmarcke was off the front. Vanmarcke was brought back by a group that was working together perfectly, and Matt came back to the group shortly after, riding like he would rather his legs fell off or his heart stop beating than give up the race. Then came the attacks in the final; each one a do-or-die effort put on by riders who between the lot of them had nothing left to give. But not one of them ever quit; they would be dropped, but they fought back. Attack after attack, they kept the pressure on and not one of the riders was ever willing to give up.
And in the end, the rider dropped on the Carrefour, when quitting seemed the most sensible thing to do, beat the greatest cobbled classics racer of all time. This is the sort of lesson that Cycling teaches us; never give up, always fight through. I take inspiration from this and apply it not only to my own riding, but to my professional and personal life as well: You can’t, and you don’t, and you won’t stop.
Vive la Vie Velominatus.
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@Mikael Liddy
Me too. They all look a bit off kilter I think. This could be a race for Durbo. He's got another 10 starts in him, Merckx willing.
@universo
Totally. This is the type of racing you get when everyone the front bunch isn't afraid to lose.
@Harminator
yup, I 'think' he's done reasonably well in the U-23 version in the past, but I could be wrong. I definitely thought he was well placed on Sunday when he managed to make the Boonen group ahead of the crash & had Hayman & Cort up ahead in the break. Never really heard what happened to him in terms of dropping off.
Seeing as Rule #74 is probably one of the most broken rules among the Velominati, I know there's a few here that'll appreciate reading through this stuff.
Mat Hayman's power data from Roubaix & subsequent analysis
@ChrisO
I don't have a power meter, but I was quite pleased how low I managed to keep my heart rate throughout the race. To be fair, my team were outstanding - they just kept taking it in turns to bomb up to the front and give me a wheel for a bit. We didn't plan it but that's how it worked out.
I was crapping myself before the race - because I knew how strong I was and how I did have a genuine shot at the win.
Also, quite gratifying that it turns out I do have the sort of sprint I'd always hoped. Very much like Frank and the pave, I'd always been certain that sprinting was just something I was good at. Nice to find out it's true! Seen another photo of the finish and it was so close! By the time our back wheels had crosses the line I was ahead, even though his front wheel crossed the line first.
Fantastic write-up of a fantastic race. Maybe I'm biased by nationality (Aussie) but it did seem to play out wonderfully.
Loved the Beasties reference.
Thanks Frank.
"Licensed to Ill" was the first cassette I owned. Spent many an hour in the back of the family truckster (Chevrolet Caprice Classic wagon) on road trips listening to it. Every song kicks ass.
@fenlander
If I was a film producer I would totally have that be the soundtrack for this year's race for sure.
@oregonrouleur
This is awesome.
@Harminator
Totally agree here actually; the perseverance here isn't isn't in the face of hardship but instead against the overwhelming fatigue. The fact that he fought back after the Carrefour being the best example, but every attack in the final was just as much of a mind fuck.
@Bart
Actually, that's taintpreserving fast. The faster you go, the smoother they feel. His ride over there is incredible, though. He must have practiced the shit out of that one. I feel bad for anyone who doesn't speak Dutch; the commentary is absolutely fantastic.
A very well written piece that I would be honoured to claim as my own. But I won't.