Sixteen regions in France went back into lockdown over the weekend for at least a month. Lockdown restrictions include the closure of non-essential shops and resident travel limited to within 10 kilometres of home. Paris-Roubaix is planned to take place entirely within one of the 16 regions under lockdown.
Le Parisien also says that the French Ministry of Sports and Ministry of Health have been holding talks to discuss the race, which was not held last year because of the pandemic. Last year the race was postponed until October and then cancelled altogether as a result of the pandemic. This year, with vaccination programmes underway, it should be different.
The 2021 Paris-Roubaix is also scheduled to include a women’s edition of the race for the first time in history. Let’s hope we see Annemiek van Vleuten (Movistar) and other stars of the women’s peloton race the Hell of the North as soon as possible.
