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Roubaix 2022 provided a very different challenge to Roubaix 2021. Sure the cobbles were no doubt equally as difficult but the mud and rain was replaced with dust, wind, and hot temperatures. We were at both the start village and the finish line to take a look at the tech decision teams made for the Hell of the North.
Elisa Longo-Borghini jumped from third in 2021 to first in 2022. She did so on the new Trek Domane RSL MK IV. Lotte Kopecky went close to achieving the Flanders Roubaix double but ultimately had to settle for second. Interestingly, Kopecky opted to ride Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL7 we seen at Flanders, and not the cobble dedicated S-Works Roubaix.Trek-Segafredo again put two riders on the podium with Lucinda Brand taking third place. Brand raced on the same Domane RSL. As one of the stars of the cyclocross season, Brand was at home on the challenging Paris Roubaix course. Brand’s position differs vastly from Borghini’s with a negative angle saddle and stem and high levers. Muddy last year, dusty this year, there’s no such thing as a clean Roubaix. Borghini raced with SRAM’s new wireless blips, located on the drops. While Brand had the same blips on the tops for shifting on the cobbles. Kopecky had no blips at all. In the 2021 edition we saw tubeless deliver a killer blow to tubulars. The 2022 edition was no different. Many of the teams raced on tubeless including Trek-Segafredo in first and third. Pirelli had long yellow Formula One-esque bands on the sidewalls of the Trek-Segafredo tyres. Longo-Borghini went for a bold “no stopper” strategy and her tyres were well scrubbed by the time they reached “parc ferme”.Kopecky, though, kept the tubular dream alive for another year. SD Worx sports director, Lars Boom, told us the team opted for around 4 bar (58 psi) in its tubulars. Trek added a touch of customisation with each riders race number included in the paint job. rand raced with number two to finish third on the day. Five shall be first. The effort is real. Dust, sweat, and… snot? That is a tight bidon grip.The dust gets everywhere.Two star names. We believe Longo-Borghini likes sushiBrand’s tyres took a battering also, but again she got through the entire race with no stops. Not sure if this is pave inflicted damage or wear and tear from a long spring campaign.The mechanics have a job cleaning the bikes tonight, the dust gets everywhere. Relatively brief notes for Kopecky. Most of the riders seemed to opt for 30mm tyres this year. The Pinarello Domga F bikes of team AG Insurance – NXTGThe team opts for Most’s two piece cockpit setup and so runs these cable routing spacers above the headset. Chantal van den Broek-Blaak also raced on the Tarmac SL7While other SD Worx riders opted for the Roubaix. We got live footage from within the peloton. These pretty hefty cameras provided those images. SD Worx had Specialized’s “project black” tubeless tyre as an option but only Elena Cecchini opted to race on the unreleased tyre. Le Col Wahoo race with SwissStop rotors and pads with their Shimano groupsets.EF Education-Tibco-SVB were using new rotors from FSA. Clara Honsinger had a 52 tooth chainring from team partner Vision. And a pretty lengthy race note. The hangers are from Wheels Manufacturing. EF-Tibco-SVB raced with tubulars but this was a decision influenced by a lack of tubeelesss tyre availability. Jumbo-Visma race on Reserve wheels and Vittoria’s Corsa Control tyres. FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope raced with waxed chains. FDJ tyre selection was a mix of tubular and tubeless from Continental. Ruby Roseman-Gannon had the longest stem we seen in the peloton at this year Paris Roubaix Femme with this 130mm from Cadex. Roseman-Gannon also had the largest chainring we spotted with the Dura-Ace 53 tooth.But in contrast, the Australian rider had the joint narrowest tyres at 28mm tubeless from Cadex. Plenty of course info on this stem note. Canyon-SRAM raced on an all black frame and fork we are told is a “Roubaix special”.
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