Look at this, it’s Eddy Merckx (right) and fellow Belgian, Herman Van Springel in their successful breakaway towards the end of Paris-Roubaix in 1968. Now look closely at Van Springel’s wheels - the rims are made from wood.
Wood was used for wheel rims before steel, and racing cyclists preferred them until the first aluminium alloys of the 1930s, because wood rims were lighter than steel. But wood had one advantage over aluminium, even in 1968, it was stronger, more resilient and could absorb shocks better. So why had Van Springel procured a pair of wood rims to help him in this race?
It was the first year the stretch of cobblestones known as La Tranchée d’Arenberg was included in Paris-Roubaix, and although its surface is a real body basher now, it was much worse back then. That’s because in 2005 the regional council spent 250,000 euros to repair the Tranchée when, due to a combination of mining subsidence and centuries of wear and tear, resulting in a series of bad crashes, it was deemed unsafe to race on.
Back in 1968 the first rider onto its awful surface was Roger Pingeon of France. The surprise winner of the 1967 Tour de France, Pingeon was trying to underline his quality with a long lone effort in this race, but a 3.5-minute lead in Valenciennes had been cut to 2.5 at the entrance to Arenberg. Then a puncture on the cobblestones wiped out the rest.
At least Pingeon took the fight to the Belgians, who were dominated the spring classics back then. However, as they approached the famous cobbled sector a group of the top Belgians were shaking the race apart. Eddy Merckx dragged the shattering peloton through Arenberg, which blew the race to pieces.
Shortly after the forest Merckx went clear with Van Springel and ‘Ward’ Sels. Sels punctured before this photo was taken, and although Van Springel was good enough to work with Merckx until the end, he wasn’t good enough to outsprint him. Eddy took the first of his eventual 3 Paris-Roubaix victories. He was world champion and still only 24.
You can read more about Eddy Merckx and Paris-Roubaix in our book, Cycling Legends 04 Flandriens, cult heroes of the cobbles.
Photo credit: L'Equipe
