the Stade rochelais Charente-Maritime, the little thumb who survives as best he can in the Hell of the North

For the Stade Rochelais Charente-Maritime, the gap with the best teams is as important as the gap between the cobblestones of the most difficult sectors of Paris-Roubaix. Invited to the Hell of the North, the French formation was the lowest ranked of the participating teams, Saturday April 8, and tried to do well despite its limited means. But a missed breakaway, a fall and a broken bike got the better of his ambitions.

In the parking lot of the teams at the start in Denain, one thing is obvious: the best teams at the World Tour level, the world elite, have large equipped buses, while the riders of the Continental teams, the second world level, change mostly in a motorhome. That of the Stade Rochelais Charente-Maritime is parked in a corner, and a dozen staff members are busy preparing the bikes and cans, without being really bothered by the media solicitations.

Among them, only a sports director and a mechanic are salaried, the others being temporary or voluntary. “With the Tour de France, Paris-Roubaix is ​​the race where we are the most numerous”says Jonas Dupuis, the sports director.

No refueling at each paved sector

All are divided into three cars on the race, with a pair of spare wheels per vehicle, to supply the riders on eleven of the seventeen cobbled sectors, where almost all of their competitors are present in each sector. By way of comparison, the FDJ-Suez, the best French team at World Tour level, mobilizes fifty people on Paris-Roubaix, to be present in all sectors, with 50 pairs of wheels taken. “We are mainly present on the first cobbled sections, where the race is still going on and where our girls can participate, because in the last sections, we may not have any more girls in a position to achieve a result”, justifies Benjamin Didou, communication trainee within the team, and supplier. In the event of a puncture on an uncovered sector, the riders must therefore hope to be close to their sports management car, or will be repaired by the race assistance, with bicycles which are often not adjusted to their morphology.

Among the supplies, Stade La Rochelais also relies on relatives of its runners, such as the parents of Chloé Schoenenberger, who is participating in her first Paris-Roubaix. They did not hesitate to drive ten hours from the south of France. “The team asked Chloe if we were in, and we said yes right away.say Laurence and Hervé, who have already refueled their daughter and her teammates on the Tour of the Pyrenees. If we can help, at least it makes us feel like we’re participating.” The only problem for these volunteer refuellers, their GPS will lose them before finding their assigned position, then with an unaccredited car, they will not be able to get as close to the course as they wanted. They will only arrive in time for the passage of the last runners.

A misadventure among others. While Jonas Dupuis hoped to place a girl “in the top 45”and “everyone arrives at the velodrome without damage”not everything went as planned for the Charente team. “We had designated three girls to be in the breakaway, and none were in the right one, while eighteen other teams were represented“, laments Jean-Christophe Barbotin, general manager. “I tried several times to take the breakaway, but it was when I caught my breath that the right one left, and I couldn’t follow”, explains Noémie Abgrall. Enough to feed regrets in view of the scenario of the race.

A broken bike, “and it’s for our pocket”

Once the breakaway was over, the bad news piled up for Stade Rochelais, with a crash involving two riders, including one, Marine Allione, who broke her bike. “The problem is that with the lowest ranking of the participating teams, we were positioned last in the line of sports directors’ cars. Marine therefore had to wait for us to arrive and conceded many minutes”, regrets Jonas Dupuis. A broken bike, “and it’s for our pocket”, breathes Jean-Christophe Barbotin. Unlike many other teams, which have a partner supplier of frames, Stade Rochelais buys its own bikes, which represents a budget of 100,000 euros per year, “which is therefore not invested in the salaries of the riders or in recruitments in the team and the staff”explains the manager.

Its runners are salaried, at minimum wage, but on Paris-Roubaix, two of the six lined up are only part-time, and therefore work in parallel. Hard to compete against riders who are dedicated to cycling full time. “We have a financial package that allows us to live, but not to progress”, continues Jean-Christophe Barbotin. Apart from French races, his team is not invited to major events, such as the Belgian classics. “It’s easier for Continental teams with a men’s section, like Arkea or Cofidis. Their name speaks on the bike, not ours.he regrets. So our girls can’t gain experience in the big races. We don’t really have a specialized rider for the classics, and we can’t attract one, since we only take part in Paris-Roubaix. It’s a vicious circle.”

While no runner from Stade Rochelais had crossed the finish line on time during the first edition, and three out of six had managed to reach Roubaix on time in 2022, the team from Charente did slightly better, with four riders classified at the finish on Saturday. The first of the team, Frances Janse van Rensburg, champion of South Africa, finishes in the 96^e position, almost fifteen minutes after the winner, Alison Jackson. Stade Rochelais, still looking for sponsors, does not yet know if it will be invited to the Tour de France again this summer. Last year, he only finished the Grande Boucle with one runner, Severine Eraud, 51^e in the general classification.