The night is beginning to claw at the Vélodrome André-Pétrieux here in Roubaix, and while I’ve just finished my usual mega tech gallery from the women’s Paris-Roubaix, I also managed to sneak myself into the VIP zone to take some photos of the bikes of the winner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot of Visma-Lease a Bike, as well as her podium companions.
Ferrand-Prévot won with a solo blast from 18km away in her very first attempt at Hell of the North. Letizia Borghesi (EF Education-Oatly) grabbed second a few seconds ahead of Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime).
Time was tight, so if you want all the juicy details then head to my main tech gallery, but some images are better than none, right? In any case, this is what I managed to grab before being collared by an ASO security guard and hoisted back into the media pen with the rest of the journalist cattle.
To control her tyre pressure she used these buttons tucked under her hoods; right button to increase, left to decrease. She told us at the end that she did it after every sector, which is a lot of pumping. (Image credit: Will Jones)
A 1x drivetrain used to be news, but now it’s very much par for the course. (Image credit: Will Jones)
A single layer of bar tape was enough for the multi-disciplinary Frenchwoman. (Image credit: Will Jones)
Here’s the valve that controls the airflow, connected to the hub by a hose that runs along a spoke. (Image credit: Will Jones)
As a smaller rider, Ferrand-Prévot’s bike has a tiny head tube. (Image credit: Will Jones)
At the rear is a relatively standard road cassette. I suspect she only used the largest sprocket for sign on and getting to her stavv inside the velodrome in the crowd. (Image credit: Will Jones)
Here’s the Cannondale SuperSix Evo of second place Letizia Borghesi. Again, a relatively stock build. A 2x drivetrain here, though I imagine it mostly stayed in the big ring. (Image credit: Will Jones)
A Shimano Dura-Ace derailleur at the back with a standard cassette. You can see from the dirt which gears she was mostly using. (Image credit: Will Jones)
Here’s the FSA crankset, still in the big ring. (Image credit: Will Jones)
32c Vittoria Corsa pro tyres provided extra cushion over the stones, though there’s room for more. (Image credit: Will Jones)
Her saddle was quite far forward on the setback seatpost. There’s a paint mark on her seatpost too to make sure the saddle height remains the same. (Image credit: Will Jones)
The race notes were beginning to peel off with all the dust and shaking. (Image credit: Will Jones)
Finally here’s Lorena Wiebes’ Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8, in European Champion’s livery. A 1x drivetrain here, and the biggest tyres of the day too. (Image credit: Will Jones)
These older version Specialized Mondo had a ’35’ written on them, so I’m saying they’re a 35c width. (Image credit: Will Jones)
Personally I don’t understand why the head tube is black at the front, but that’s just me. (Image credit: Will Jones)
Wiebes’ drivetrain was noticeably cleaner than the others, so whatever chain lube she was using was clearly doing the business. (Image credit: Will Jones)
It may be the fact that it’s 10 p.m. and I’ve been working since 9 a.m., but this 0mm offset seatpost looks like it’s in backwards. It isn’t, but it looks like it is. (Image credit: Will Jones)
A big ol’ Garmin computer for Wiebes, with plenty of room for all the metrics. (Image credit: Will Jones)
And a big ol’ 1x chainring too, plus a Wolf Tooth chain catcher. (Image credit: Will Jones)
Not many riders can say they’ve won 100 races! (Image credit: Will Jones)
Here we can see that Wiebes is using the standard Roval Rapide CLX II wheels, rather than the lighter Team Edition model with silver hubs, likely for better durability. (Image credit: Will Jones)
And here are all her pace notes from when she hung her bike on a railing at the finish. (Image credit: Will Jones)
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