“That is just so Mad(s)”: Former world champion Pedersen “bravely” set to take on Paris-Roubaix’s savage cobbles… without extra bar tape

As the peloton rolls out of Denain at lunchtime for what promises to be a thrilling third edition of Paris-Roubaix Femmes, all tech-savvy eyes will be fixed this weekend on Team DSM and Jumbo-Visma’s wheels – and, more specifically, their potentially revolutionary on-the-fly tyre inflation hubs.

The ground-breaking adjustment systems, developed by Dutch wheel firms Scope and Gravaa respectively, will allow DSM and Jumbo-Visma’s stars to change their tyre pressure at the push of a button, a potential game changer in a race which alternates between relatively smooth tarmac and treacherous, bone-rattling cobbled tracks in the blink of an eye.

> Team DSM set to use on-the-fly tyre pressure adjustment at Paris-Roubaix

However, while most of the cycling world has fixated on the latest innovative, space-age tech to be tested on the brutal pavé of the Hell of the North, one of the favourites for the men’s race, 2019 world road race champion Mads Pedersen, is eschewing even the most basic of Paris-Roubaix tech hacks: extra handlebar tape.

Additional layers of bar tape have long been an essential component of the Roubaix rider’s set-up, with many pros opting for a double or even triple wrap, often with a gel insert, in a bid to absorb some of the vibrations and provide some extra cushioning for those poor hands and arms over the relentlessly juddering farm tracks of northern France.

> New Trek Domane breaks cover at Paris-Roubaix... and is instantly ridden to victory by Elisa Longo Borghini

The effects of a day in Hell on the hands cannot be underestimated. Lizzie Deignan’s decision to go gloveless for her historic winning ride in 2021 – some riders ditch the gloves due to handling concerns stemming, incidentally, from all those additional layers of handlebar tape – famously saw her triumphantly enter the Roubaix velodrome with her hands and bars covered in blood.

> Lizzie Deignan left with blood stained handlebars after brutal first edition of Paris-Roubaix Femmes

But for Deignan’s fellow Trek-Segafredo rider, Pedersen, his hands don’t seem to be of much concern, as the Dane has seemingly ignored the oldest of old-school shock dampening approaches and instead opted for a standard bar tape set-up on his otherwise Roubaix-ready Trek Domane.

According to Danish TV commentator Dennis Ritter, who posted a photo of the 27-year-old’s minimalist bar tape on Twitter, Pedersen says the reason is simple: “A waste of weight”.

Most riders and teams doing Paris-Roubaix use double layer of handle bar tape or a gel to absorb the vibrations from the cobbles. But not Mads Pedersen: “Waste of weight”, as he puts it. pic.twitter.com/8CZpgayuyK

— Dennis Ritter (@RitterTV2) April 8, 2023

Not that weight will play too much of a role on the pancake-like parcours of Roubaix, of course…

As some fans pointed out on social media, however, the possibility of blisters may well prove a more decisive factor:

Blisters waiting to happen in any case 🤷‍♂️

— Martin Skajaa Wøldike (@Martinwoldike) April 8, 2023

Say goodbye to feeling things with your fingers 😬

— David 🚴‍♂️ (@HaaaaWords) April 8, 2023

Mad Mads Pedersen at it again

— emma bianchi 🩵 (@cyclartist) April 8, 2023

Pedersen, who memorably took the rainbow jersey in atrocious conditions in Harrogate in 2019, has been on stellar form throughout this year’s classics campaign, finishing sixth in Milan-Sanremo before putting together a string of top fives in his favoured Flemish cobbled classics, culminating in a strong third at last week’s Tour of Flanders.

 (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

However, despite his obvious class on the cobbled bergs of Flanders, the 27-year-old is yet to crack the top 50 at Paris-Roubaix and even failed to finish the last two editions.

Perhaps this new raw and ready approach to bar tape will break Pedersen’s duck at the Hell of the North?

> 10 ways that Paris-Roubaix bikes have changed over the past decade — comparing 2012 to 2023 bike tech