Back, this weekend in “the hell of the North”, the Paris-Roubaix, this race made legendary by the cyclist fights on the cobblestones, but also by the mud with which the runners are covered at the end of the race . If the men’s edition has existed since 1896, the feminine is only blowing out her second candle ! Last year, it was the Briton Lizzie Deignan who won the first edition. To win, you will have to cross the finish line in the lead, after 125km race between Denain and Roubaix.
It will also be a first for the Iséroise Valentine Fortin, under the colors of the Cofidis team. The student at the Grenoble business school, 22, double winner of the Vienne Nouvelle-Aquitaine Women’s Classic (2020, 2021), present in Tokyo last summer, advances with excitement on the starting line . “A lot of pride in doing this race! Now, we will have to finish it, it promises to be eventful. It’s one of the most beautiful races that exist”smiles Valentine Fortin, already prepared to go through hell. “The cobbles, with the Belgian classics, we were able to do some. We also did a reconnaissance of this Paris-Roubaix, and we know what to expect, the entrance to the first cobbled sections is going to be very hard. We call all the same, this race is the hell of the North, so fear yes, but above all adrenaline”, she assures. There will indeed be 8 km of additional cobblestones compared to last year.
“We know what to expect, the entry to the first cobbled sections is going to be very tough” – Valentine Fortin, runner from Isère with the Cofidis team
Valentine Fortin and the peloton will allow the women’s section of Paris-Roubaix to grow. Faced with protests from the French Association of female cyclists (AFCC), the victory bonuses have also been revised upwards by the organizer ASO: 20,000 euros for the winner, against 1,500 the previous time. But the Grenoble runner does not quite feel like a pioneer. “I think the pioneers are those who manage to win this legendary race. I will feel more like a pioneer if I do the Tour de France, but I don’t have that feeling about Paris-Roubaix.” On the other hand, this women’s edition “shows that the woman is at the same level as the man, we know how to go to the end of ourselves, and that gives a good image of the woman. We too have the right to have hard races, to show that we are warriors”concludes Valentine Fortin.