I had always imagined that de Ronde van Vlaanderen must be hardest race in the world. The way I worked it out – having never ridden the course of either event at the time – was that de Ronde had the same cobbles as Roubaix, but with 20% grades thrown in. It makes enough sense so long as you don’t know what you’re talking about, but what you quickly discover once you have ridden them both is just how bad the cobbles of Roubaix are: the worst kasseien in Belgium are about as rough as the best pavé in France.
Both routes are so hard you need to experience them in order to appreciate their difficulty; words are hopelessly inadequate in describing the separation the rider feels from their bicycle while simultaneously feeling more connected to it than at any other time. It is through breaking down the illusion of control that the Cyclist is finally allowed to truly bond with their machine.
The element that makes Vlaanderen a slightly easier race is the most counter-intuitive: the bergs. On most routes, the hills are what separate the wheat from the chafe. Yet because of the brutality of the cobbles, they allow a rider to hide. The secret to riding cobblestones is speed; the faster you go, the better the bike is able to skim over the top with the effect of smoothing them out. This requires big, big power to sustain over the distance of a secteur of cobbles, let alone over the whole of a race. But the bergs neutralize the speed somewhat; how fast can anyone go up a 20% grade – on cobbles, no less? The answer is none fast, so the gaps between the strong and the weak are reduced somewhat until the final decisive moments when the pressure is so great that every chink in the rider’s armor is ruthlessly exposed.
To ride the cobbles is to dance with paradox: ride full gas while keeping something in reserve for the crucial moment – not when the odds are stacked in your favor, but the you are at the smallest disadvantage. During Sunday’s Ronde, we saw a Cancellara who was not at his best; he won both his previous two Ronde by being so superior that he could drop his adversaries on the last of the steep grades. This year, he made his move on the one section of the finale where his power was a definite advantage, despite his relative weakness on the day; he attacked not on one of the two steepest parts of the Kwaremont, but on the cobbled false flat between the two where speed could make a real difference. He then hung onto Vanmarke over the steep Paterberg before being dragged patiently to the sprint finish to take his third Ronde.
Cancellara is learning tactics as his strength steadily wanes; before last few year, there was no need for such subtlety. Now he is patient; he is calm. He knows both his strength and weakness, and doesn’t let the antics of the race affect his action. It reminds me of Neruda:
I like you calm, act as if you were absent, and you hear me far-off, and my voice does not touch you.
– Pablo Neruda
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@KW Mini-Phinney has the right amount of dumb in spades to be successful at PR. Having a gigantic engine doesn't hurt either.
@dissolved Chapeau... great ride.
@Pedale.Forchetta
Oh thank christ someone said it. If there are Rules of photography, this is a serious breach.
Great article!
@frank
It was interesting listening to Backstedt commentating on Sunday, he mentioned his prep for Roubaix was always to use de Ronde as a final training ride where you go as hard as you can for as long as possible & then just look after yourself during the week. What better way to go hard than spend ~200k driving the break?
@andrew
Really? I think it nicely highlights the riders and their machines. What else really matters?
@andrew
Agreed. As someone who is as passionate about photography as I am about cycling (blasphemy I know), I have grown to loathe those types of kitschy photos. They have a place only on valentines cards and the art section of Ikea.
A nice enough photo of a great subject debauched by a heavy hand in photoshop.
Here's Eddy talking about his exploits at Flanders.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNNxIdiZlVo
@unversio
Those cobbles are mudcaked. They are actually the easiest to ride, almost like bad tarmac, those are.
2012 when we rode them, it was brutal because it was dry with spells of rain washing out the sand between the stones. In 2013, it had stormed more and the mud from the fields had washed into the gaps and made them reasonably easy.
Again, the cobbles are a paradox. Not enough rain, they are hard. Too much rain, they are hard. You need just the right combination to make them treacherous.
@PeakInTwoYears
NEARLY? NEARLY? I had a Nerudon with a touch of giardia while I was writing all that. It was totally intentional.
@wilburrox
Exactly. That's why Vanmarke fucked up and that's why the classics are so often won by vets. You just can't make any mistakes and mistakes are so easy to make when you're in oxygen detox.
Easy to read the race from my bed at 6am with an espresso. Not so much from the road.