Several high-speed crashes and punctures on the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix have highlighted possible limitations of tubeless tyres in such extreme race conditions, with Vincenzo Nibali and Luke Rowe both speaking out about the tyre technology that has rapidly taken over in the professional peloton.
Derek Gee of Israel-Premier managed to stop his bike and avoided crashing after his front tyre punctured and came off the rim as he entered the Forest of Arenberg in the breakaway.
However, Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) wasn’t as fortunate. The Briton was racing at high speed in the Arenberg when his front tyre came off, with Wright crashing heavily. Other riders just behind him also went down, including 2022 Paris-Roubaix winner Dylan Van Baarle (Jumbo-Visma) and Kasper Asgreen (Soudal-QuickStep).
Both Gee and Wright appeared to be racing without the foam inserts or liners that some teams use and that could have helped ease the impact of the puncture and reduce the risk of crashing at high speed.
Neither Israel-Premier Tech nor Bahrain Victorious explained the reasons for their respective crashes after Paris-Roubaix. Israel-Premier Tech preferred not to comment when contacted with specific questions about their use of tubeless tyres and inserts while Bahrain Victorious had not replied at the time of publication.
Rowe shared his thoughts on the Paris-Roubaix crashes and his theory on the importance of tubeless inserts during the latest Watts Occuring podcast with teammate and fellow Welshman Geraint Thomas.
“I’ve got a bit of a theory of why there were so many crashes in Roubaix this year,” Rowe said.
“Everyone is riding tubeless now, whereas the year before it was probably 50-50 and the year before that everyone was riding tubulars. Now everyone is riding tubeless and if you puncture, you lose all pressure instantly.
“I think a lot of teams are not using liners but they’re putting their lives at risk. I really think it’s a big cause of so many crashes in Roubaix.
“I think, and I’m not going to say names or teams, but we (Ineos Grenadiers) ride with liners (inserts), so if you puncture, it keeps the shape of the type and a little bit of the pressure and you’re not straight on the rim.
“But it’s two or three watts faster without liners, so I think that people are that desperate that they’re racing without liners, but if they crash, and I’ve seen it happen so many times, the tyre just goes straight off the rim and…
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