The riders pass through the Arenberg trench, during Paris-Roubaix 2015. AFP/FRANCOIS LO PRESTI
The Arenberg trench is the place in the world where cyclists fall the most. It is not a pass in the Pyrenees or the Alps which holds the accident record in the peloton, but rather this 2,300 meter long passage bristling with cobblestones, a must on the Paris-Roubaix route, rooted in the former mining basin of Wallers (North). Every year, on average, half a dozen victims collapse here.
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The black legend of the “Hell of the North” feeds on their injuries, but the riders’ union – the Associated Professional Cyclists (CPA) – is moved by it. For the first time this year, the organizers have therefore decided to add chicane turns at the entrance to the cobblestones of Arenberg, in anticipation of the 121st edition of Paris-Roubaix, Sunday April 7. The Dutchman Mathieu Van der Poel, outgoing winner and new favorite, deplores this installation “even more dangerous”. But the trench has caused so much damage… and its pace is increasing.
The latest victim is an anonymous person, the Swiss Filippo Colombo, 26 years old, nailed to Arenberg on April 9, 2023. “A year later, I still haven’t fully recovered from my compound elbow fracture, testifies the Ticino resident. I am missing 15% of my arm extension abilities and it is likely that I will carry these after-effects for the rest of my life. »
A black series
Filippo Colombo was able to resume the thread of his career, but he left the road pelotons and reoriented himself towards mountain biking, the discipline of his beginnings, now under the jersey of Team Scott-Sram. “I lost a lot, he adds. Time, qualifying points which force me to start from the back of the line, self-confidence on the descents…”
On Sunday, he will take a look at Paris-Roubaix and this trench. “I never understood how the UCI [l’Union cycliste internationale] was able to validate such a thing, he wonders. I come from mountain biking, we know how to ride a bike, we have an idea of what is dangerous, but we would never have agreed to ride in Arenberg! »
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The black series on this path begins with its appearance on the “hell of the North”, in 1968, on the surface of the galleries and coal pits. According to cycling mythology, which likes to describe these parallel lives, the miners suffer under the land of Arenberg, when the runners shout above them. For many years, injuries there were no more serious or frequent than on the other paved veins on the course.
The first shocking accident dates back to April 12, 1998. The Belgian Johan Museeuw, destined for victory, broke his kneecap. Taken to hospital, he suffered gangrene, later claiming that horse manure, mixed with the mud, had entered his bloodstream. Doctors are considering amputation before stabilizing the serious infection. This tough man, nicknamed the “Lion of Flanders”, repeats that he ” almost died “. Those close to him explain that his accident changed the depths of his character, tipping into an increasingly dark mysticism.