At around 4:20pm local time, time seemed to stand still in the middle of the Roubaix Velodrome, as Wout van Aert crossed the finish line first at the end of Paris-Roubaix, ahead of Tadej Pogačar. The crowd went wild, Van Aert was mobbed, and the business of explaining the race went on apace. Less than two hours later, time stood still again, this time as Franziska Koch out-sprinted Marianne Vos at the end of Paris-Roubaix Femmes, and the reaction ensued once more.
For the first five editions of Paris-Roubaix Femmes, the organisers, ASO, had done something almost unique in WorldTour racing: hold the women’s race on a different day to the men’s race. It was something special, almost magical, giving the race a chance to breathe, to exist on its own, and for us in the media to tell its full story, and not be distracted by something else.
This year, both races happened on the same day, along with both the junior men’s and under-23 men’s events. It was a step backwards. It might be the norm in cycling for both races to happen on the same day, as at the Tour of Flanders or Milan-San Remo, but it deprived us of the beauty of both races having centre stage.
There was justifiable outrage at the lack of full television coverage of the women’s race, with only around 50km of racing shown; with it being described to CW as a “massive affront to women's cycling” by Deena Blacking, the managing director of The Cyclists’ Alliance. This only grew louder on the day. Fans on the course might have got a better deal, seeing two elite races rather than one, but it meant a worse deal for anyone not there, watching from home or hoping to read about it after.
With both races happening on the same day, at the same time in parts, it might not have been logistically possible for enough camera motorbikes and all the other infrastructure needed to show them live simultaneously, but that feels like an excuse after the fact. To be clear, this a decision of the organisers, not the broadcasters, some of whom, like TNT Sports, would like to show the women’s race in full.
As well as the reduced TV coverage, there were fewer photos of the women’s race than the men’s and fewer journalists covering the women’s race, many consumed by deadlines to file from the men’s race. It felt, unlike the first five editions, that Paris-Roubaix Femmes was in the shadow of Paris-Roubaix. French newspaper L’Équipe on Monday had seven pages on Van Aert’s triumph and the men’s race, and less than half a page on Koch’s epic win.
Post-race, Carys Lloyd of Movistar explained her frustration: “Last year people were able to see a lot of the race, and I think it’s just a really big shame that we weren’t able to have that this year. Even more especially because the junior boys and the under-23 boys had a full live stream. That’s just ridiculous. We should be a priority against them. I think there’s still a long way to go.
“They don’t even have a junior women’s race, which is something I really wanted to do as a junior. I was excited originally when they said we were going to be on the same day as the men’s, but actually, to be honest, I preferred last year for the live stream and the coverage. I think that’s more important than us being on the same day as the men.”
While we strived to cover both elite races in the same depth as before, it was more difficult, with so much happening at the same time – to pull back the curtain, Van Aert was still giving his winner’s press conference just 40 minutes before the women’s race ended. That meant it was impossible to get the all-important quotes from the men’s winner and watch crucial parts of the women’s race. Likewise, it was nigh-on impossible to cover both the start of the men’s race in Compiègne, and the women’s race in Denain, 100km to the south.
Grace Brown, former pro cyclist turned president of The Cyclists’ Alliance said it succinctly: “This format is holding the women's race back. There's no room for growth and any attention that the women's race gets is then erroneously attributed to the men's race... ie ASO says that people will only watch women's racing because they are already there. But we know this is not true and that people will come or watch on TV when women's racing has its own space. Just look at the Tour de France Femmes last year.
“We acknowledge that maybe at the moment without a big sponsor, it doesn't stack up financially to hold the women's race on a separate day. But the goal needs to be to get back to that and not settle for this as the inevitable conclusion.”
Having been to two previous editions of Paris-Roubaix Femmes, the idea that people wouldn’t turn out for a standalone women’s race is just wrong and untrue, and it is a much worse look for the women’s race to have less exposure on the same day as the men’s. If it is the case that the money isn’t there to fund the separate days at the moment, then energy must be put into getting back there again.
As Brown said, we shouldn’t settle, and the race should be taken back out of the shadows. Roubaix was a model for how other races could work, over two separate days; we should not accept the pair being jammed into the same space as the norm.
I came away from Roubaix with adrenaline pumping, having tried to squeeze as much as possible out of two epic races, but with a sense of what could have been. The Roubaix weekend was magical with the two races on two different days. This year it felt different. I hope this isn’t the “inevitable conclusion”.
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If you want to get in touch with Adam, email adam.becket@futurenet.com.
