Ever wondered what it’s like to come last at Paris-Roubaix?
Tom Davidson speaks to those who know
There’s a certain pride that comes with finishing Paris-Roubaix. For the riders, it’s a badge of honour, unlike any other, that can only be earned on the harsh cobbles of northern France.
Bernard Hinault, a five-time Tour de France champion, famously described the race as “une connerie” – bullshit. But while he managed to win it in 1981, others have not been so fortunate.
Be it due to crashes, punctures or just bad luck, many find themselves in a different race; a battle against the clock, ticking down towards the time cut.
It’s these riders, those at the back, who often force themselves to suffer the most. Reach the velodrome before the gates swing closed, and you gain a special feather in your cap. Here are the stories of those who made it.
Martial Gayant
Martial Gayant was just 20 years old when he rode his first elite Paris-Roubaix. He remembers waiting wideeyed before the race, when a journalist approached him and explained he was working on a piece about the rider who finishes last.
“I said to him, ‘Don’t worry, you won’t need to speak to me, I’m in great shape and my mindset is good. There’s not a chance I’ll finish last,’” the Frenchman tells CW.
“Then, with 30km to go, I saw the journalist come alongside me, and I thought he was just there to say hello. I asked him, ‘Is the last placed rider far back?’ and he responded, ‘Umm, no. No, he’s not far, because it’s you.’ It was as if he’d smacked me around the head.” That afternoon, Gayant recalls, the wind was blowing a gale. “It was a particularly exhausting Paris-Roubaix,” he says. “I think when the rest of the guys were empty, had no more strength, they decided to jump into the broomwagon.
“In those days, in the 1980s, people questioned whether finishing a race was important. For me, it was.”
The Frenchman, now a sports director at Groupama-FDJ, crossed the line as the last of just 32 riders to finish within the time limit. He was 40 minutes down on the winner, Hennie Kuiper, and over seven minutes behind the rider one place ahead of him.
Born in Chauny, less than 30 miles from the race start in Compiègne, Gayant had always dreamed of a high Direction arrows come in handy when the fans have gone home placing in his local race. After the disappointment of 1983, his career led him to stage wins at both the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia. He returned to Paris-Roubaix in 1990, more determined than ever, and ended up finishing fourth.
“I stepped out of the shadows and into the light,” he says. “I went from riding into
