The Tour of Flanders really was a war of attrition, and no one epitomised the riders’ bravery more than Belgian national Road Race champion Stijn Devolder. From memory, he crashed at least three times – and I don’t just mean fell, but hit the road, hard!
Each time though, Devolder got back on his bike and charged up the road in a desperate attempt to regain the ground he’d just lost. For much of the race Devolder was trying to regain his spot among the contenders, but eventually this proved too difficult and he rolled across the line in 86th, 9:49 behind the now three-time Flanders Champion Fabian Cancellara.
I haven’t seen any reports of Devolder’s health, but wouldn’t be surprised if he finished the race with a broken something.
Sunday night’s classic Classic was memorable not just for Cancellara’s win but also for the incredible amount of crashes splattered across the race. Only 102 of the 200 riders finished the murderous dash across Belgium’s most brutal bergs, many of those succumbing to crashes which must have numbered dozens by race end.
Johan Vansummeren was a relatively early casualty, crashing out around 60kms in after a sickening collision with a spectator who was standing on a traffic island.
It seems there was no marshal standing on the island to warn the riders of the danger, so the 2011 Paris Roubaix winner just ploughed straight into the female spectator at high speed, causing critical injuries. At last reports the 65-year-old woman is in an induced coma, while Vansummeren is stiff and sore, sporting some cuts and a black eye.
After the race, Vansummeren didn’t really want to talk about what happened as he was clearly traumatised. But he suggested that incidents like this are getting harder to prevent.
“This is the top. There are a lot of spectators. It’s a hype. Twice or thrice a year riders head to a race with this tension. It’s all about small roads and riding at the front. Every year incidents happen.
“The biggest part of the problem is what they’re planting on the roads. There are more crashes but there’s much more junk on the road too.”
Another big off saw one of Cancellara’s teammates Yaroslav Popovych slam into a gutter at high speed after clipping the kerb, sending his bike sideways.
Aussie Luke Durbridge also crashed out and at one stage was thought to have broken a collarbone. But he later tweeted he was ok and would be fine for this weekend’s second slice of pave pandemonium, Paris Roubaix.
Thanks for all the well wishes. Just a slight concussion and some bruises. But should be up and running for roubaix. #thatsracing
— Luke Durbridge (@luke_durbridge1) April 6, 2014
After recently being hurt in crash myself, I have a new appreciation of what these guys go through when they hit the deck. That said, anticipating what might happen at any moment, and kind of hoping something might happen, makes races like Flanders totally enthralling.
It was enthralling even though my pick, Peter Sagan, only managed 16th while Tom Boonen was a more respectable seventh. It would’ve been more enthralling seeing those two battling for the win with Spartacus. Instead, we had Belgium versus Switzerland and, it has to be said, Cancellara never looked in danger. Well, his face said as much, unlike his rivals, who grimaced their way to the finale.
But Flanders would’ve been even more enthralling if we had one more element and it’s something I really hope we see on Sunday night for the Hell of the North. I want to see some Hell. Which, in terms of this race, means rain.
Can you remember the last time it rained at Paris Roubaix? One of my first memories of this race was the 2001 edition. It was the first time SBS had shown the race – a replay, not live – and it remains etched in my memory.
Torrential rain in the lead-up almost saw the race cancelled as the 24 paved sectors became muddy, slippery and rutted. Subsequently, watching riders just lose their bikes from under them as they battled the cobbles was unforgettable.
It didn’t rain through the entire race, but it was raining at the end when a barely-recognisable Servais Knaven rode alone into the velodrome and took the win ahead of teammates Johan Museeuw and Romans Vainsteins. Only George Hincapie prevented the Domo Farm Frites team filling out the top four places, as Wilfried Peeters snatched fifth.
If you haven’t seen this race, be sure to check it out below. It’s epic, especially the journey through the Arenberg forest.
It rained the following year too, as Museeuw went one better, but since then, there really hasn’t been a drop.
Despite the magic of the day, in particular 2007, I always feel a tad disappointed that there’s no rain in the mix. And I’ll feel the same about Sunday if the 50/50 forecast of rain fails to materialise, because I want to see guys go down on the pavé.
Not hard, not so that they’re injured, not even so that it ruins their race, but just so it shows that even the best of the best are not immune to stacking it. It’s not pleasant when you crash, and I really don’t want to see anyone hurt, but as Luke Durbridge says, “that’s racing.”
So c’mon Weather Gods, don’t disappoint us on Sunday. Make that pavé extra slippery. We shouldn’t love crashes in cycling, but a tasty few will help give us another Paris-Roubaix to remember.
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