Paris-Roubaix
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| Matt Entering the Velodrome |
What was your reaction to being selected for Paris-Roubaix?
I was pretty happy of course, being in the selection gave me a lot of confidence not only in myself but in my place in the team. I must be doing something right..
How do you relax before an event like this?
Normal stuff really, we were staying in a beautiful chateau north of Paris a week Prior to the race, so good food, massage, easy bike rides, coffee stops and plenty of lying in bed watching movies and writing shit on Twitter...
What was your job on the day?
I was 100% donkey for Matt Goss and Bernie, keeping them out of the wind early on, getting them in a good position for the important sections and generally just making sure they were as fresh as possible for as long as possible.
Are you left with your body buzzing from the cobbles?
My body was buzzing from the first cobble, and that was on the start line. The boys had to tell me to calm down few times and stop getting excited.
What kind of damage does a race like that do to your body?
I finished up pretty unscathed really, i wore good clothes and gloves etc. and had a good bike so i wasn't too bad.
There is a great picture of you and G riding into the velodrome together, what's the story?
Well after my battle through the forest and all the shit that went with it i ended up riding to the finish with one of my trusty team mates Gatis Smukilis, one of the biggest and scariest guys in the peleton. Hes actually probably the softest in all honesty, but anyway we were together for the last 100kms and picked up G with around 40ks to go. After a bit of encouragement he battled to the Velodrome with us.
Was your bike set up any differently?
Yeah, it couldnt have more been different really. I was riding on a Specialized Roubaix frame which has a slightly longer wheelbase with dampners in the forks and seatstays to smoothen the ride a little. I had extra gel padding under my bar tape for obvious reasons. 4.3bar in my front tyre and 4.8 in the back. My saddle was shifted back half a cm and my stem was half a cm shorter too keep a bit more weight on the back wheel so i was getting full power out over the cobbles. I had a 47 tooth inner ring which i used on some of the harder sections. Extra gear shifters on the tops of my bars (electronic) so i could shift easier on the tops on the cobbles. Thats about it.......
Did riding in Belgium for years help you out?
Riding in Belgium for years helps everyone out in any race. Ive always said it, if you can race in Belgium you can race anywhere. It prepares you for all types of carnage!
From being in the top 20 at the first cobbled sector, what went wrong?
I hit the Arenberg section in a really good position. I cant remember if Cancelara was in front or behind, but i know he was close. I was feeling good and made it through the chaos prior to the forest when someone clipped the barrier in front of me and went down. I had no way around him and hit him full gas. My front wheel died and i had to wait for a spare. The car arrived with a wheel after a fair wait, couldn't stop in time, door wacked me and nearly knocked me over. A wheel was thrown out of the door and all i heard was "can't stop Gossys chain has snapped" so i got my wheel in and got going again. Next thing the whole road was blocked about 500m further up. Boonen had punctured or something and the whole world wanted too see. So i had to stop again and get going. I came out of the forest in a group that eventually managed to get back on but again had to wait to help Gossy. By this time it was pretty much over and my plan shifted to just getting to that Velodrome alive! So that was the forest.....
Roubaix always looks like a war is being waged, is that an apt description?
In every sense, the tension slowly builds all day, the closer you get to the forest the more wounded soldiers go down!
Did you see any bizarre sites out there?
Erm.... Not really, it was pretty bizarre on a few of the earlier sections in the dust. I remember only being able to see the guy 2 in front it was so dusty, and looking down at my speedo and seeing 52kph. I thought if someone goes down now im pretty screwed
You're listed as DNF why?
I finished 2 mins outside the time cut.
Could you win it one day?
I very much doubt it but i never say never..
Best/worst moments?
Best moment was getting to the velodrome. Mission (kind of) accomplished, dream come true... Worst moment was when the dude hit the barriers. Im pretty sure i was close to tears...
HTC
What’s it like riding with guys who are house hold names?
At first it was pretty daunting, but now its just normal, there all normal guys with normal bodies and normal attitudes. (apart from Tony Martin, hes a machine!)
Will you become part of the ‘train’ at some point?
I already am man!!!!
What races are in your calendar?
Next up is Berlin Velothon, Bayern Rundfarht, Philidelpheia Ster electrotour, National champs.
Home
You visited home recently and went on a ride with..... what seems like everybody, was that a change from the normal routine?
Kind of, it don't get chance too often to just "ride my bike" normally im always looking at a number or hurting too much. It was pretty cool to see so many faces out and i think we all had a great day out (apart from Mr Compost who we wont mention) - Duff thought he was pretty mad doing all his dirt tracks but i do that shit all the time. He wants to get over here for a ride and ill show him a ride.....
Lots of familiar faces out on the day?
Yep, some of the faces from the good old days. And Terry Giblins bike hasn't changed since i was 14! I remember sitting behind that Cadex up worlds end a few times thats for sure! Proper Retro!!
There is photographic proof that you can still fix a puncture without a service car, I hope everybody didn’t just sit and watch?
No my trusty domestic Webby helped me out a bit. I fixed a fair few punctures for him back in the day in Abbey Cycles so i suppose he kind of owes me.....
Was it an interesting route?
Duff was in charge, of course it was!
Time Trials
One brief question for you about the club 10, any advice to new riders wanting to go that little bit faster?
Its all got to be about pacing. Start off to fast and you will die, too slow and you wont go fast. If you aint got a power meter use a HRM. If you know you can average lets say 170 for 20 mins then start at 160ish and try not to go to 170 before the half way mark. Try and hold that for a bit then the last few mile dont look at the fucker and just go flat out!!
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