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2001 Paris-Roubaix & Ghent-Wevelgem
In this three-DVD set, World Cycling Productions offers a double feature: the 2001 Paris-Roubaix and the 2001 Ghent-Wevelgem bicycle races. Both are noteworthy, for different reasons: Ghent-Wevelgem for its historic victory by U.S. Postal's George Hincapie, and Paris-Roubaix because rain and mud made the already tough cobbled course insanely difficult.
Taking place on April 11, Ghent-Wevelgem actually comes four days before Paris-Roubaix on the cycling calendar, and it makes sense to watch it first (conveniently, it's on a separate DVD). But since Paris-Roubaix is the more prestigious and exciting race, we'll take a look at it first.
Paris-Roubaix
Known as both "The Queen of the Classics" and "The Hell of the North," in 2001 Paris-Roubaix lived up to both of its nicknames. After days of rain, the famous cobbled roads, known as the pavé, of the race were covered with inches of slippery, treacherous mud; in fact, the race organizers had to pump water out of some of the road segments to make it minimally passable. Riding over the pavé is a difficult task even under the best weather conditions, but with the rain the race truly became a "muddy hell." As co-commentator Paul Sherwen interviews the riders prior to the start of the race, however, it becomes clear that many of the riders eagerly anticipate tackling the challenge of Paris-Roubaix at its worst. U.S. Postal's George Hincapie starts as one of the favorites, along with two-time winner Johan Museeuw. Other potentially key players include Roman Vainsteins (the current World Champion), Ludo Dierckxsens, Rolf Sorenson, Peter Van Petegem, and Andrei Tchmil.
And in fact 2001 turned out to be a "classic" in every sense of the word. Paris-Roubaix is never predictable, but 2001's edition turned out to be more than usually full of surprises, making for a thoroughly entertaining race from start to finish.
WCP's two-DVD edition of Paris-Roubaix gives us three and a half hours of racing coverage (two hours on the first disc and an hour and a half on the second disc); it's put to good use, as the race is full of action from the start. This is an unusual Paris-Roubaix in that a lot of important moves happen before they're "supposed" to. To start with, a breakaway and a chasing group featuring many of the major riders forms even before the Forest of Arenberg, the traditional launching point for significant attacks.
That's only the start of the action: in a startling move, Domo's Wilfried Peeters launches a solo attack while still very far from the finish... certainly much sooner than we'd expect to see a break like that. This initiates a fantastic game of cat-and-mouse as the other riders attempt to chase down Peeters... with Peeters' Domo teammates Johan Museeuw, Roman Vainsteins, and Servais Knaven lurking in the pack, trying to keep the tempo of the chasing group down so that their teammate can make it to victory if he has the strength.
But Domo's team tactics aren't the only thing that makes the race exciting. The chasing group is far from stable, with some riders finding the pavé too difficult and dropping back, while other riders attempt to bridge the gap from behind. Mechanical problems and sheer bad luck also play a role as always, and several major players including Johan Museeuw and George Hincapie are forced to deal with ill-timed punctures, and Steffen Wesemann courageously battles to stay with the leaders despite a recurring problem with his pedals.
In the end, the conclusion of the race is determined by a combination of strength and skill over the difficult roads, and smart tactical maneuvering in the last kilometers of the race. 2001's edition of Paris-Roubaix is definitely a historic race, packed full of exciting racing action from start to finish.
Ghent-Wevelgem
Ghent-Wevelgem is often considered a sprinters' Classic: its mainly flat course, and especially its long flat stretch before the finish, makes it within the reach of pure sprinters who would be knocked out by the repeated hills of courses like the Tour of Flanders, or the pavé of Paris-Roubaix. However, the course is punctuated by two climbs of the Kemmelberg, a hill that's tough enough to frequently break up the peloton and serve as a launching point for breakaway groups.
After an introductory segment of about 15 minutes of interviews with Paul Sherwen, we pick up the race action, which takes up the remaining running time (about an hour and forty-five minutes). Admittedly, the 2001 Ghent-Wevelgem is not one of the more exciting editions of the race. The climbs of the Kemmelberg are worth watching, to see whether any of the riders manage to gain an edge on the rest of the peloton.
After a few attacking moves, an escape is made featuring U.S. Postal's George Hincapie along with Nico Mattan, Steffen Wesemann, Arvis Piziks, and Leon van Bon. At this point, we get about an hour of not-very-exciting racing, in the form of a pursuit of the escapee by the main peloton, before the race gets interesting again in the final stretch. In a sprint, the rider who starts the sprint is at a disadvantage, as he reveals his intention to his competitors, who can hang on his wheel and sprint past him at the last moment. Consequently, when a small group approaches the line, there will be a lot of tactical maneuvering, feints, attacks and counter-attacks before the final, winning move. This is the situation in 2001's Ghent-Wevelgem; at about five kilometers to go, the five men in the breakaway stop working together and start eyeing each other to determine the best moment to spring away, with the finishing sprint turning out to be very exciting.
The DVD
The 2001 Paris-Roubaix and Ghent-Wevelgem is a three-DVD set, presented in a very nice double-wide keepcase.
Video
Both races are presented in their original television aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and in general look quite good. Colors are bright and natural-looking, and the print is clean and free of any noise or flaws. (Admittedly, we do get mud splashed on the camera lens at various points during Paris-Roubaix, but given the conditions, it's amazing that the camera operators even managed to get through at all.) The image loses its sharpness at times, though, especially when the image is fast-moving and shaking around, as with the motorcycle cameras on the pavé sections of Paris-Roubaix; I'd attribute this to relatively heavy compression of the image. On the whole, though, the image looks quite good and certainly it's better than when I watched these races on VHS.
Audio
The straightforward Dolby 2.0 soundtrack is sufficient for both the races in this set. Most importantly, the commentary from Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen is always clear and understandable, though perhaps not quite as crisp as it could be. Overall, the audio experience is quite satisfactory.
Extras
The menus are easy to use for both races, with a reasonable number of chapter stops. The Ghent-Wevelgem DVD has no special features (and in fact the chapters are listed on the main menu screen, so watch out for spoilers). For Paris-Roubaix, we get a small section with quotes from the riders concerning the race.
Final thoughts
The subtitle for WCP's release of the 2001 Paris-Roubaix race is "Muddy Hell," and it certainly lives up to that description. The 99th running of this famous race turns out to be a classic in every sense of the word, with great action from beginning to end, and a lot of surprises along the way. Accompanying the Paris-Roubaix race in this three-DVD set is the 2001 Ghent-Wevelgem race; though it's not one of the more exciting editions of the race, it does offer a great tactical sprint finish and a "home favorite" as the winner. Highly recommended.
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