DEParis-Roubaix Podium Bikes
1x Drivetrains for Kopecky, Balsamo, and Pedersen
Every racer dreams of hoisting the Paris-Roubaix winner's cobblestone over their head, and on Saturday, World Champion Lotte Kopecky made her dream come true. In a final selection full of strong sprinters, Kopecky used her track smarts to come around late and finally take victory in the women's edition of the most iconic of one day races. Lidl-Trek's Elisa Balsamo finished off another strong Roubaix with second place, and the great Marianne Vos just missed out on a podium in fourth.
The next day in the men's race, Balsamo's teammate Mads Pedersen rode an aggressive race, a third place in the velodrome his reward for driving the chase group behind a dominant Mathieu van der Poel.
All of our WorldTour athletes race on SRAM RED eTap AXS, changing gearing choices to the course and individual preference. The demanding cobbles over a relatively flat course make Paris-Roubaix perfect for a 1x drivetrain: chain retention features are built into the chainring, and losing the small ring improves weight and aerodynamics. Lotte Kopecky chose a 50T chainring with a 10-33 cassette on her Specialized Tarmac SL8, finishing it off with hand-painted World Champion TIME XPRO 12s.
Elisa Balsamo raced a Trek Domane SLR 9, Trek's endurance bike designed specifically for the rigors of Roubaix. She chose a 52T ring and a tight 10-28 cassette for the pavé, putting her power through TIME XPRO 10s.
The powerful Mads Pedersen stuck with the setup that won him a Tour de France stage in 2023, putting a massive 56T 1x ring on his Trek Madone, paired with a 10-33 cassette. The former world champion raced TIME XPRO 10s on the way to his first elite Roubaix podium.
