World-Cup #8 Roubaix (FRA) 17/01/2010
Written by Marc   

The name Roubaix stands for dirty riders on the road as well as in cross!

As last year this worldcup was a terrible mud-party.After the juniors and U23 races the circuit was so deep, that we had to run a huge part, from the stairs (built for giants, normally grown people needing a ladder to get up!!) until the entrance of the track!

The race started under a bad omen for me, as someone had tried to steal the bikes of our car and we hate to make a deposition at the police during the night and to find a solution to close the broken window somehow! This stress added to my usual stress before start, didn't help me and I was very bad in the two first laps. The running parts don't suit me anyway, so I was afraid of being doubled before end. But the great public encouraged me so heavily that I had to fight and so I managed not beeing doubled and finished at 35th place.

After the race we had to shrub hard to get all the mud off in the historical ( but nicely warm ) showers of the famous Velodrome!
 
A big thank you to all people in public who supported me, to Richard Nieuwhuis for bringing my new Rhino-tubes from Dugast and especially to Pipo, the mechanic from luxemburgish national team, who glued them for me the night before the race. and a big kiss for my husband who despite a tendinitis in his knee rode the course with me on on saturday and did the dirty job of cleaning my bikes!

I'll not race in Hoogerheide as my dentist pulled out a second tooth today, after a first one last monday and I'm KO for some days! I hope to do a last cyclocross for this season at the sluitingsprijs in Oostmalle before preparing roadseason.

Cheers

Suzie