No Gravaa for Visma | LaB, but Lidl-Trek bring BMX gadget to the start of Paris-Roubaix

Visma | Lease a Bike are hugely disappointed that the Gravaa system has been banned by the UCI. It means the Dutch team cannot deploy the gadget during Paris-Roubaix. Lidl-Trek, however, will start with a different piece of technical innovation: the team has borrowed from the world of BMX. Despite unideal preparation, Mads Pedersen hopes it will finally help him win.

During the Paris-Roubaix recon, Lidl-Trek were spotted by Het Laatste Nieuws with a new gadget. Jonathan Milan was riding with a double valve. It is a protrusion clearly visible on the inside of the rim. It looks strange, but what does it actually do? According to the technicians, it is designed to prevent punctures. In Paris-Roubaix, that would be a huge advantage.

It is an elastic inflatable insert, and in the event of a puncture it keeps the tyre on the rim. The 'double bubble', as it is called, helps against impact punctures (crucial on the cobbles) and air loss. It originates from BMX, but has already made its way into other (off-road) disciplines of cycling. Lidl-Trek are taking a gamble and introducing it in The Hell of the North.

The system should finally help team leader Pedersen to a Monument victory. He has been close many times. At Paris-Roubaix 2025, he was with Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel until he punctured. The Odyssey system should help him avoid that fate again this year.

Much has already been said about his physical condition, but in a Lidl-Trek video the Dane once again recounts the crash in which he broke his wrist and collarbone. It shows just how serious his condition was.

'I was lying on my stomach and tried to push myself up, but then I noticed immediately: the wrist is broken,' Pedersen says. 'I had also broken my collarbone before, so I knew something was wrong there too. They also thought my back was broken, so I was given a neck brace. Michael Schär was with me in the ambulance. He wasn't crying, but I could see from his eyes that he was emotional.'

The fear of a broken back made the Dane think. 'I told him: if my back is broken, you'll never see me on a bike again. Then I'm done.' Fortunately for him, that was not the case. The optimism returned quickly. 'The crash was on Wednesday, and by Saturday I was already asking my coach: how are we going to do this, how are we going to come back?'

For a long time it was thought that the spring classics might come too soon for Pedersen. But training went well, and his form was excellent. Just before Milan-Sanremo, the former world champion spoke to his coach. 'I told him: with these numbers, it would be crazy not to start.' And start he did, his determination rewarded with 4th place. Two weeks later, he finished fifth in the Tour of Flanders.

For the Dane, there is nothing finer than racing in the classics. 'You have to be absolutely mad to enjoy this, but it's special. It's like a national holiday in Belgium when we race. There are perhaps only five race days with this kind of tension. You also have to find enjoyment in what you're good at.' At Paris-Roubaix, he expects more from himself than in the Tour of Flanders: now it has to happen.

'I know that when I stand at the start of Roubaix, I couldn't have done anything more. I haven't missed a single detail. Afterwards we might say: we need to change this and that. I dare to dream of the victory, but there are always details you have no control over. It would be nice to have a year without bad luck, without punctures. Hopefully this is the year.'

In the winter of 2024, Pedersen made clear that winning The Hell of the North is the great goal of his career. He will do everything to triumph. 'I desperately want to win that race, and it keeps haunting me. But I won't lose sleep over it after my career if it doesn't happen. Then it is what it is. But people shouldn't think I don't believe in it, because I genuinely believe I can win here.'