Paris-Roubaix: Christian Prudhomme wishes "airbags" to protect cyclists
“Of course enemy number 1 of the cyclist is the weight, but if there were airbag equivalents and everyone had these protections, it would be the same weight for everyone. argues Sunday April 7 on franceinfo Christian Prudhomme, the director of Paris-Roubaix, a race in which the men will start this Sunday at 11 a.m.
The event is being held in a context of debate on the safety of runners, while the Belgian Wout van Aert will be absent, victim of multiple fractures after a big fall in the Across Flanders race on March 27. He calls for better protection of runners, because “today, clearly, they are not.”
Christian Prudhomme also suggests rethinking the material of the shorts and the jersey. “When we see the wounds of Wout van Aert completely grated on his back (…) if there were textiles in such a way that he was no longer burned, that would already be a good step forward.” He also calls for “protection of the clavicle”while “Half of fractures are clavicle fractures”he indicates. “There are immensely talented engineers, I’m sure they could come up with something very quickly”he adds.
The boss of Paris-Roubaix also returned to the chicane installed before one of the cobbled sectors, the Trouée d’Arenberg, which forces the peloton to slow down by making an almost 360° turn. “It is a request from the riders’ union which was made to our competition boss, who himself has raced Paris-Roubaix 12 times,” he justifies himself. This request was made “almost at the last moment (…) 8 days ago”and the proposal was “accepted by the runners, the prefecture and the communities”. He admits once again that this chicanery, “is not something perfect”. But “what is certain is that it will go much slower”. He counts on “common sense” runners “who cannot ignore that there is this chicane”.
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