Paris – Roubaix was absolutely riveting this year, with everything in it. Cancellara went into it the favourite but I was urging Vanmarcke on after Cancellera’s master tactics, pure in the saddle power as well as some over zealous spectators taking out the lead pack left both of them out front. ‘Kudos bro’ has to be awared to Vanmarcke for answering the attack 4k out as well as taking his pulls. What a race.

Photo from here.

Its approaching two weeks since we invaded Red Hook for one night only with a spectacular bicycle race. I’ve purposefully held off posting, firstly to allow everyone to digest the sheer volume of photos and material relating to the race that surfaced a meer hours afterward and secondly because its taken me this amount of time to mentally recover and physically find the time to sit down and write again.

I’ve decided instead of a full recap to point you in the direction of a few links and locations of where the best material is found and best interprets the event.
The Red Hook photo blog collates the majority of the photography in one place and can be accessed here. While this written account by ESPN i think captures the night perfectly.

I will say a few things though…

This is the first time I’ve had the privilege of racing a Trimble organised event, up until now Rudy and James have flown the flag. The first in the series of 4 RHC events this year was a watershed for us and the event in a number of ways. It would be the first time we would roll out our 2013 kits and the first time The 5th Floor UK and US would unite and race together as one Troupe. Bringing Rudy, Myself, Chris Pino and Phil Garofolo together wearing the new kits was an awesome feeling. This year would also feature qualifying sessions designed to break 200 prospective riders into a field of 100 racers. This addition to the race not only extended the carnival feeling of the event allowing riders who travelled from all over the globe to mingle. It also played a decisive roll in elevating the race to the fastest yet by refining the pack and defining the front rows normally hustled over. It also bared the soul of the rider as there was nowhere to hide especially not with all results being updated live time with the fantastic iphone app that accompanied the race this year. All 4 5th riders comfortably qualified.

The pace of the race from the gun continues to blow my mind. To get some sense of it check Evan Murphy’s final 4 laps here. Myself and Chris managed to qualify side by side in 46th and 47th, the Grand Prix style numbered grid placed us directly behind 2 race favourites Al Barouh and Mike Garrigan. Off the blocks both myself and Chris latched onto the lead pack taking up these guys wheels. The ripple effect through this pack was extreme, if someone up front put in a couple of power strokes this translated to an off the saddle 100metre sprint at the back. With barely time to think let alone blink I lost a contact lens, my vision isn’t bad enough to spell the end of the race but it certainly disorientated me and i dropped off the back of the pack eventually pulling off in error mistaking David’s call that was in fact directed at riders I was lapping.

Chris Pino was the only one of the 4 of us that made the distance, an incredible achievement finishing 30th. You can watch is entire race in unedited footage here.

Word has to go to David Trimble for the incredible orginisation and his continued efforts to further and improve our sport. Check out the athlete support section and recent letter to the UCI to further cement this. We’re stoked to be media partners for such an amazing series and hope to continue spreading the word of this fine event. See you in June.