Riders recon 2023 Paris-Roubaix in conditions worse than they'll face race day - Gallery

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The scenes from this year's Paris-Roubaix reconnaissance recalled the horrific conditions riders endured in the October edition of the Spring Classic in 2021: a steady drizzle, wet cobbles, dirty bikes and riders.

There will be a major contrast between the pre-race rides and Saturday's Paris-Roubaix Femmes and Sunday's Paris-Roubaix hommes, as the sun is expected to emerge and dry up the puddles and turn mud to dust, making for a fast course.

Photographers braved the foul conditions to capture favourite Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) previewing the route while wearing his new 'brain' helmet. He was not riding the adjustable tyre pressure KAPS system but confirmed he is using SRAM's 1X system already seen on his bike in Milan-San Remo.

“It was filthy, raining, the cobbles were greasy and it was cold,” van Aert told HLN.

“It was one of those training sessions where you count down until you see the bus.”

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The news from the Paris-Roubaix recon was not all good: FDJ-Suez lost Vittoria Guazzini, who crashed heavily during Wednesday's pre-ride and fractured her pelvis.

The French-registered Women's WorldTeam was out on Friday to preview the cobbles. Grace Brown along with her teammates were wearing their special edition orange jerseys used for training, to raise awareness for cyclists' safety,

Some teams, including Ineos Grenadiers and EF Education-TIBCO-SVB moved their final recon ride to Wednesday to avoid the bad weather and enjoyed spring-like weather. Similar weather is expected at the weekend.

Most teams, including Mathieu van der Poel and Alpecin-Deceuninck carried out their final recon ride on Friday morning to avoid Thursday's rain and see how the cobbles are drying out.

Such is the danger of wet cobbles that riders were concerned about crashing during Thursday's ride.

In 2021, Ellen van Dijk (Trek-Segafredo) crashed four times during the race and suffered for months from lingering concussion symptoms. She, fortunately, had the off-season to recover since the race was held on October after being postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Ineos Grenadiers' Filippo Ganna did his recon last week and will only travel to France on Friday after spending a week training in Italy. Ganna described the race accurately, saying it was "like playing Russian roulette".

"You’d have to be a bit crazy to like Roubaix, it's so painful, so hard on your body," he added.

That didn't stop riders from giving their equipment and bodies one last test before the weekend's Hell of the North.

Enjoy the recon gallery by clicking or swiping through the gallery above.