'Now it feels like we had leftover crowds' – Taking the temperature of the new Paris-Roubaix Femmes format

I’m back at my desk after covering my third Paris-Roubaix, already a second coffee into my morning and somewhat feeling like I’ve come back from a festival rather than a bike race.

There was some incredible tech on show at both the men’s and women’s races, and as always, both delivered sensational racing. However, standing in the velodrome after the men’s field had finished and dissipated, waiting for the women to arrive I couldn’t help notice a distinct vibe shift that was definitely a consequence of the race moving to the same day as the men; a decision that has been contentious to say the least, compounded by the fact the women’s TV coverage was then curtailed to ‘only whatever was left after the men had finished’.

I loved covering Paris-Roubaix Femmes the previous two years, and like many of my colleagues, was dismayed by the news of the change in format. My personal view is that it’s doing the women’s race and fans a disservice, but is that view mirrored in the peloton? I quizzed some of the riders as they crossed the line to see what the vibe was like in the race and at the roadside.

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Yes, I’m sure they were as frustrated to be asked about the men’s race in any capacity as I was at having to ask it, but when we were only served 50km or so of TV coverage it was hard to ask Rosa Klöser about her breakaway escapades, for example when, as she quite rightly pointed out to me, we wouldn’t know she was in the break if I hadn’t asked how her race went at the finish.

Why change the day?

It’s worth briefly recapping the various reasons behind the shift. Organisers will say it gets more eyeballs on the race (more on that shortly), and brings the race in line with the Tour of Flanders held seven days previously in the race calendar, which, it must be said, hasn’t received the same criticism.

The main reason, as is often the case, is likely money. Running a bike race as long and as high profile as Paris-Roubaix costs an enormous amount to put on. Police outriders, rolling road closures, private security at the start and finish, PA systems, stages, a great number of portaloos, helicopters, medical support, and keeping a press room open in the Roubaix velodrome.

Many of these need to be paid twice anyway, with the start of each race occurring in different places, but condensing the format into a single day of racing will drastically reduce the cost of putting the race on, which, it can be argued, makes it a more sustainable product.

C’est ne plus ‘Avec Zwift’?

While I did find that the high profile sponsorship shoehorned in to the race’s name (as it in the even more wordy Tour de France Femmes Avec Zwift, or TDFFAZ for short) felt a bit like it created an unnecessary point of difference, there’s no denying the sponsorship bought a great vibe with ‘WATCH THE FEMMES’ emblazoned on musettes, caps, and all over social media.

The decision to move the race to the same day was taken before Zwift's contract with the race was up for renewal, making it hard to continue as the Femmes branding is incompatible with the sponsor commitments of the men's race.

Zwift isn’t totally absent from the women’s peloton, and still sponsors both Fenix-Premier Tech and Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto, and the TDFFAZ, but with the benefit of hindsight, I think Zwift not renewing its four-year sponsorship of Roubaix has had an outsized impact on the race, even though it appears its hand was somewhat forced.

Reduced coverage, but record viewership

The decision to have the women’s race concurrent with the men’s for most of its duration also resulted in drastically reduced TV coverage for the women’s race, with only what remained once the men had finished being shown. In an accidental show of gallantry, the men’s edition was the fastest ever, at least giving us the greatest duration possible of the women’s race, but, nevertheless, this change required the race director to defend the decision:

“It’s true, we have a shorter broadcast, but on the other hand, there will be a much bigger audience, with everyone who was watching the men’s race, and audiences are notably better on Sundays," said Paris-Roubaix race director Thierry Gouvenou.

This does seem to have been borne out by the data, with TV viewership up by 70%, topping out at over 1 million in France. It’s quite hard to argue with such an increase in eyeballs, in spite of the record viewership, but the reduced coverage goes beyond just the TV airtime.

Covering Roubaix isn’t like any other race. As my colleague Pete Trifunovic goes into in his reflections on the race, the race requires so much bandwidth, not just on race day but in the buildup too, that condensing it into a single day means stories that we would ordinarily pick up fall by the wayside simply due to time constraints.

It does a disservice to the fans, as well as the riders, and while I would absolutely welcome parity of coverage on the same day, this still forces viewers to choose between two, with the mid-race portion of the women’s then competing with the closing stages of the men's for eyeballs, creating an unfair competition.

The Cyclists' Alliance noted this in their own words in the days leading up to the race: “When coverage is reduced, it sends the wrong message. This is one of the biggest races on the calendar. A race that has quickly become a defining showcase for women’s cycling. And yet, just as momentum continues to build, visibility is being pulled back. Progress in this sport is not guaranteed. It needs to be protected.”

On the roadside and in the velodrome

Now I can bring my own experiences into play: In the last two editions of the race, the velodrome at the end, when it was held on Saturday, had a festival atmosphere, with a home crowd cheering Pauline Ferrand-Prévot home being particularly special. This year was markedly different, with the packed throngs on the banks thinning out almost immediately once the men had finished, presumably in an effort to beat the traffic leaving Roubaix as it was Sunday afternoon.

It was extremely disappointing to see, compounded by seeing four men asleep in the team zone while the women's race still had 35km to go, where last year it was packed with team staff and photographers. It filled up, but pool photographers were still sprinting to the finish with less than 5km to go. It’s not just me who was disappointed too; unbeknownst to me, a friend of mine had roped his family into watching the race at the velodrome after he had to drop out of the Paris marathon:

“It felt weird being there. It felt like a loss. Watching the mass exodus of fans from the centre and the side of the velodrome. It even felt quieter during the final lap of the velodrome, too, when in reality the finish was far more theatrical and exciting (AGAIN) than the men’s.”

Speaking to the riders at the finish as they fell in exhausted heaps at the feet of team staff (well, once they’d caught their breath and stood back up), the experience in the velodrome was only mirrored depending on where you were in the race. I asked Unbound winner Rosa Klöser of Canyon-SRAM-zondacrypto how the crowds were:

“I mean, I think there's always ups and downs, right, like, on one hand side, it's really nice to see a lot of people on the sidelines cheering for us. I would definitely say there's more in-person cheering, but on the other side, of course, I think us women, we have definitely really interesting and exciting race dynamics.

"Now, if you wouldn't interview me, nobody would know that I even was in the breakaway because there was no live coverage. So in this regard, of course, it would be nice if we could ensure that the women's race gets more coverage.”

Being up front in the breakaway perhaps meant Klöser experienced more residual crowds, as when I spoke to former winner, Alison Jackson of St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93, who punctured twice early on in the race and spent the day near the back of the field, I was told the crowds had very much dissipated:

“There was like a quarter of the people at the start. Normally, it’s crazy because people can come to the start, watch a sector, and still get to the end. Now it feels like we had leftover crowds”.

I think Jackson, remaining wonderfully insightful despite having ridden arguably the hardest one-day race of the calendar solo for much of the day, summed it up better than I can:

“When we have our own day, we have all our fans; everyone is there for us, so the vibe is totally different.”

This basically sums up my feelings on the new format. For some reason, Roubaix sits apart from the other Monuments. Flanders isn’t a mad, beautiful circus in the same way as Roubaix is, and so I think the bandwidth is greater to give the women’s race the coverage it deserves, but with Roubaix the race needs more space to be able to breathe as it has done the last few years, and stand alone so it doesn’t just feel like an afterthought.

Progress isn’t always linear, but despite the record viewership, it’s hard not to view the reduction in coverage as a backwards step in a race that had such momentum.

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