to the sludge of the effort in the vineyard paths

When Paris-Tours arrived this Sunday, October 6, we played a little “Who is it?” » Faces smeared with mud, brown-beige jerseys: all the runners looked the same. If they are the ones who put on the show, the vineyard paths stole the show a little this year.

Not since their appearance on the Dead Leaves Classic in 2018 have they been so wet, so muddy, so slippery at times. The rain of the last few days and in the morning, as well as the hopeful race which took place an hour before, made these paths very delicate.

For the spectators, it’s nothing but happiness: these conditions make the race more daunting, more eventful, more spectacular. The runners are separated into two categories: those who love it, like the Dane Mads Pedersen, author of a daring outing on the first paths 70 km from the finish; and those who just can’t wait to reach the finish line and quickly shower.

“Places not passable by road bike”

Châtelleraudais Thomas Bonnet (TotalEnergies), who has been getting sicker since the start of the week, was undoubtedly part of the second. “It was very muddy, very liquid, very slippery. We didn’t necessarily see what was happening, we were splashed by the runners in front of us. You had to be vigilant so as not to fall”he testified upon arrival.

“It was hell. There were even some places that were not passable with road bike tires”added his teammate, Deux-Sévrien Thomas Gachignard.

But he, the former cyclo-cross rider, still enjoyed his race, even if a fall in a roundabout destroyed his ambitions. “I loved it,” he said, while emphasizing that what makes the difficulty is also that not everyone is comfortable on these paths: “Some don’t drive as well as me or others, so it’s complicated to keep a trajectory. To get back up, I drove on the side of the road more often than on the path. »

“We were spraying our faces to see where we were going”

These sectors are also sometimes seen as a “lottery” by some, because falls or punctures can affect everyone. “It was a spectacle. But from the inside, it was pretty hard (dur). We couldn’t see anything, there was mud, strikes (chutes) everywhere, punctures… We were spraying our faces to try to see where we were going”said Arnaud Démare (Arkéa-B & B Hotels), double winner of the event in 2021 and 2022.

But for the winner Christophe Laporte (Visma Lease a bike), on the contrary, “a slightly damp day like that is less chaotic, less dangerous for punctures, because we drive a little slower on the roads”. The looser soil also makes the stones stand out less.

“When the race starts, instinct returns”

The 31-year-old Frenchman, a true man of classics, of course appreciated: “I like it when it’s a little chaotic like that. » He knows well that “in these difficult conditions, there is always a part of the peloton that is less comfortable”. But if these paths were much criticized by a majority of the peloton when they appeared in 2018, they are today very appreciated by runners of their caliber: “At the start, we’re a little grumpy, then when the race starts and we get a little excited, the instinct comes back and we want to race”he slips mischievously.

Dusty or muddy, the paths always bring their share of difficulties anyway. But there is no doubt that they are now part of the identity of Paris-Tours, which is establishing itself as a classic that is more difficult to win, and therefore more prestigious.