Israel-Premier Tech are set to trip Paris-Roubaix on Sunday aboard gravel bikes, taking to the pavé on the Issue Ostro Gravel.
The crew have opted to place their ordinary street bike, the Issue Ostro Vam, to 1 facet in favour of one thing a lot harder forward of Sunday’s version of the Hell of the North, as Cyclingnews first reported.
As they checked out the newly put in Arenberg chicane, Rick Zabel, and different Israel-Premier Tech riders, had been noticed driving the gravel bike as they then entered into the Arenberg cobbled sector.
Whereas different main WorldTour groups will go for their typical aero setup, albeit with the addition of additional bar tape and 32 millimetre tires, Israel-Premier Tech will evidently be in search of consolation and sturdiness over aerodynamics on Sunday.
Some riders on groups like Lidl-Trek, will go for their endurance bike, the Trek Domane, over the aero providing, the Trek Madone, however these are very a lot nonetheless street bikes. Different squads, like Soudal Fast-Step, are eschewing their endurance bike all collectively, driving the Specialised Tarmac somewhat than the Specialised Roubaix.
When contacted by Biking Weekly and Cyclingnews, Israel-Premier Tech confirmed the chosen setup and ran by means of the reasoning behind the choice.
“We did various testing on the cobbles after Opening Weekend with Tom Van Asbroeck and Riley Sheehan, evaluating the brand new OSTRO VAM with the OSTRO Gravel and the overwhelming consensus was that the OSTRO Gravel could be the only option for Paris – Roubaix,” Gary Blem, Israel-Premier Tech’s head of apparatus, mentioned.
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“The Ostro Gravel has an extended wheelbase so it tracks slower which is ideal for a race like Paris-Roubaix because it offers the riders extra time to react, and the elevated tire clearance permits us to run 32mm tires,” he added. “The OSTRO Gravel is a motorcycle constructed for consolation and direct suggestions from our riders was that they’d go for consolation over aerodynamics.
“Fortuitously, given it’s an extremely aero gravel bike, there isn’t a compromise on aerodynamics and having simply accomplished our recon trip, we’re assured that is the perfect Issue bike for our crew this Sunday.”
In the meantime, Human Powered Well being can even be driving Issue bikes in Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift on Saturday, however their common Ostro VAMs, not gravel bikes. When contacted by Biking Weekly on Friday, a spokesperson for the crew confirmed that they’d not be opting for the same setup to the Israel-Premier Tech squad.
On the eve of the Roubaix weekend, final 12 months’s winner, Mathieu van der Poel, was considered one of a number of riders who talked by means of their particular person bike setups.
Van der Poel and his Alpecin-Deceuninck teammate, Jasper Philipsen, instructed the media that they’d be going for the same old Roubaix bike modifications. Each riders defined that they’d be choosing double handlebar tape in addition to wider tires.
Nevertheless, previous to Israel-Premier Tech being noticed on gravel bikes, Van der Poel mentioned that he believes that normal aero street bikes aren’t the perfect for the brutal course on supply all through the race.
He mentioned: “I additionally assume the cobbles within the Arenberg aren’t meant to be ridden with a street bike, to be sincere. The opposite sectors are fairly unhealthy, however doable. However yeah, going into the Arenberg at 65 kilometres per hour has nothing to do with ability, you simply should hope the bike holds up.”
