Component choices to deal with the demands of the Hell of the North
(Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Paris-Roubaix Femmes is certainly one of if not the most demanding races on the women's WorldTour calendar. The challenging cobbles sections take their toll on the body and bike and are a serious test for even the best equipment.
Canadian Alison Jackson took the win this year from an earlier breakaway topping the podium ahead of Katia Ragusa and Marthe Truyen respectively.
Cyclingnews was at the race and snapped a huge gallery of all the interesting tech and components choices used in the women's race. There are a mixture of tyre choices both tubular and tubeless, double-wrapped handlebar tape and the use of grip tape in key places like bottle cages, not to mention a rather special pair of pedals.
Grab a brew, take a seat, and scroll down to enjoy our tech tidbits from the women's race.
SD Worx used some Specialized Turbo 'hell of the north' special edition tyres for the race (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Some Jumbo-Visma Cervelo S5 bikes were fitted with 1x Sram chainsets and chain keeper devices for the relatively flat race (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Elynor Bäckstedt used a Trek Domane with 1X chainset and K-Edge chain keeper for the race (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
An aero Sram 1x chainring was used for the flat Roubaix course (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
A neat K-Edge chain catcher helped minimise the risk of the chain bouncing off over the cobblestones (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Trek-Segafredo mechanics used an elastic band to prevent the Sram Red rear derailleur batteries from rattled loose or falling out (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Plenty of tubular tyres were used in the womens race. Here, a Pirelli tubular is mounted to a Bontrager rim (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
A Jumbo-Visma mechanic inflated a Vittoria tyre with a cordless Bosch inflator (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
A Canyon Aeroad complete with post race mud splatter, note the inner tube on the fork leg to protect the race transponder and make it a bit more aero (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Martha Truyen's Canyon Aeroad post-race after being ridden to third on the day (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Alison Jackson's race winning Cannondale Supersix Evo post-race (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
A shallower Dura-Ace C36 wheel fitted to a Team Arkea Bianchi shod in a Continental GP5000 Tyre (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
A Jumbo-Visma Cervelo bike racked and ready on a team car (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Trek-Segafredo riders seemed to be using a mix of Madone and Domane bikes from Trek. The aero focused Madone is pictured here (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
A Domane for Balsamo here, note the IsoSpeed decoupler unit at the rear of the seat tube (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
A Jumbo-Visma Cervelo, this time with a WolfTooth chain keeper device (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Look's integrated handlebar and stem for the Cofidis Women's team, note the race notes on the stem (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Corima carbon wheels shod with Michelin tubular tyres (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
A range of saddles could be seen fitted to the Look bikes (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
The purposeful looking cockpit of the DSM Scott Foil bike (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Katia Regusa raced her Liv bike to second place (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Paris-Roubaix winner in 2004 Magnus Bäckstedt hugs his daughter Zoe at the end of the race after her first participation (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
A Canyon Aeroad with stem notes attached to the handlebar stem (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Alison Jacksons Cannondale Supersix Evo (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Jackson appears to have run tubular tyres on her Metron carbon wheels (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Uno X Pro Cycling's stealthy Dare bikes (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Teniel Campbell's Liv Racing TeqFind team bike with a good amount of spacers under the handlebar stem (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
A carbon fibre stem and round handlebar with stem notes and Fouriers computer mount (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Campbell's name adorns the top tube of the bike (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Quite a few spacers are required here to achieve the desired fit for the 1.8-metre-tall rider (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Vittoria Corsa tubular tyres again. And we thought tubulars were dead (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
A round handlebar and stem and exposed cabling looks almost dated now in the WorldTour, but it works just fine for Liv Racing TeqFind (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Team Lifeplus-Wahoo were using Ribble Endurance bikes, not the hyper-aero Ultra SLR model(Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Here we have a Vittoria Corsa Contral tyre set up tubless, and a bike roof rack from Roof Racks Chantal who supplies a lot of pro teams (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
A name sticker lets the world know this one is Alison Jacksons (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Zoe Bäckstedt's nickname, given to her by one of the team mechanics, is the Pink Panther. The same mechanic then printed the stickers. (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
A Prologo saddle complete with anti slide grippers and PAS - Perineal Area System technology (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
EF Education riders were running a range of saddles (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
LifePlus-Wahoo were using Hope disc brake rotors despite running Shimano groupsets (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
The Blue Hope rotors matched well with the blue Ribble frames (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Ultegra cranks, aluminum bottles cages and Wahoo power meter pedals (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
EF Education-Tibco-SVB bikes had the FSA K-Force Team edition chainset fitted with one-piece chainrings (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
The paint on the Canyon-SRAM team bikes really stands out (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
An integrated one piece handlebar stem and bar on this Canyon team bike (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Tiffany Cromwell's Canyon team bike, Cromwell was a DNF (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
An integrated Canyon bar and stem, a relatively short stem being used here (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Marie-Morgane le Deunff had a Bianchi Specialissima at her disposal (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
A factor bike fitted with a fairly short Black Inc stem (their own in house componentry brand) and K-Edge computer mount. Note the rearward facing stem bolts (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
A healthy saddle cutout for Caroline Baur (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Maxxis tubular 'Yalla Academy' team issue tyres on this Factor bike (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
30mm S-Works turbo tyres for SD Worx and a sneaky peak at an CeramicSpeed OSPW (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Someone has got the silver marker pen out here, team issue tyres or just easier to spot? (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Paris Roubaix also saw a new Specialized S-Works Mondo tyre break cover (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Tan walls and purple paint go pretty well together (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Still-unreleased Vittoria Corsa Pro tyres here set up tubeless (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
A 50T Sram X-Sync 1x chainring with pro edition silver logos (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Marianne Vos's Cervelo Caledonia bike with traditional handlebar stem (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
A variety of spare Bontrager Aeolus wheels waiting to be called upon, these all looked to be tubular (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
More Bontrager wheels for Trek-Segafredo (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
The iconic P-Zero logo, you guessed it: tubular (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
We think this was Longo Borghini's 2nd bike on the car roof rack, note the no.2 sticker at the top of the seat tube (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Another rubber band to add a little extra insurance in case a SRAM battery rattled loose (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Another shot of Marianne Vos's bike, complete with 1x setup and non-integrated bar and stem (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Gabrielle Pilote-Fortin had a different Look model to call on from her teammates, this one had a little more exposed cabling, but was perhaps a bit more forgiving on the rough stuff (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Dura-Ace 9100 chainsets are still being used, despite R9200's existence (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
A Team DSM Scott bike with Ultegra C36 wheels, not the Dura-Ace you would expect to find (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Shifters turned slightly inward here and stem notes taped to the stem again (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Pfeiffer Georgi was using a distinctive looking ISM saddle (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Supacaz bar tape and aero K-Edge mount for this Tarmac SL7 (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
The short head tube on this Dare has meant the brake hose has had to be kept a little longer (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Ultegra cranks for this Uno-X Dare bike (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Shimano Di2 climber shifter provide gear changes on the tops too (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
A gaggle of SD-Worx Tarmac SL7 bikes ready to race (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
One of Grace Brown's Lapierre team bikes on the team car roof (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Dura-Ace 9100 cranks again, these ones look like they have seen some action (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Not the neatest Prologo bar tape wrap on this Lapierre (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Grace Brown raced the no.31 bike (Image credit: Peter Stewart)
More still-unreleased stuff, this time the Roval integrated bar and stem that we've seen all season. This time with climber switches (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Some sort of anti slip tape could be seen on this saddle (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
SRAM shifter blips are fitted here for changes in the drops (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
These tyre pressures are being checked with a digital pressure gauge (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Mavic carbon wheels and GP5000 TL tyres (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Zoe Bäckstedt used her father Magnus's old Speedplay pedals from his time racing Paris-Roubaix the open design is meant to shed mud more easily, the axles look quite long too (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
No plastic pedal body here helps with mud (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Grip tape is used on the Arundel carbon bottle cages to keep bottles safe (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
These Scwalbe Pro One tubeless tyres, we aren't sure what the marker pen denotes (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
Team UAE Enve wheels have one of the wider internal widths making the tyres look bigger (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
The white dot may just make it easier for mechanics to find the valve in a hurry (Image credit: Peter Stuart)
We still haven't seen the official release of these Vittoria Corsa Pro tyres(Image credit: Peter Stuart)
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Tom joined the Cyclingnews team in late 2022 as a tech writer. Despite having a degree in English Literature he has spent his entire working life in the cycling industry in one form or another. He has over 10 years of experience as a qualified mechanic, with the last five years before joining Cyclingnews being spent running an independent workshop. This means he is just as happy tinkering away in the garage as he is out on the road bike, and he isn’t afraid to pull a bike apart or get hands-on with it when testing to really see what it’s made of.
He has ridden and raced bikes from an early age up to a national level on the road and track, and has ridden and competed in most disciplines. He has a keen eye for pro-team tech and enjoys spotting new or interesting components in the wild. During his time at Cyclingnews, Tom has already interviewed some of the sport's biggest names including Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogačar and Alberto Contador. He's also covered various launches from brands such as Pinarello, Ridley, Specialized and more, tackled the Roubaix Challenge sportive aboard his own rim-brake Cannondale SuperSix Evo, tested over 20 aero helmets in the wind tunnel, and has created helpful in-depth buying advice relating to countless categories from torque wrenches to winter clothing.
