Pfeiffer Georgi’s first experience of Paris-Roubaix wasn’t a positive one. “I thought it was the most painful race I’d ever done,” she says. It was 2021, the first ever women’s edition, and it was a washout. “I crashed two or three times – like everyone in the peloton – and I remember saying afterwards that I was never coming back. I really hated it."
She doesn’t anymore. This weekend, the Picnic PostNL rider will be taking on the Hell of the North for a fifth successive time, a year on from finishing third. That toxic relationship is now a beautiful one. “We did the recon yesterday [Thursday] and just being here again brought all those nice feelings back,” she tells Rouleur on the eve of the race. “Since my first year I’ve had really good memories here and I’ve learned that the race really suits me and the power I have. It’s my favourite race.”
Even the bone-rattling, skin-cutting and blister-producing cobbles are more friend than foe nowadays. “If you’ve got the right materials and the bike’s good, the cobbles can feel quite nice,” she says. Really? Is she sure of that? “Yeah! But it all comes down to equipment and tyre pressure. In general, I’m not the most nerdy when it comes to bike tech, but the week before Roubaix, I become obsessed about .1 of a bar and type pressure and how much difference it makes. Yesterday we experimented with .2 of a bar and it made a world of difference. Part of what makes this race so special is that the tiniest detail can make a massive difference.”
Twelve months ago, Georgi entered the velodrome with five other riders to contest the finishing sprint, among them cycling royalty: reigning world champion and eventual winner Lotte Kopecky, wearer of multiple rainbow bands Marianne Vos, and former champion of the world Elisa Balsamo. “I was not expecting to be on the podium with Vos, Balsamo and Kopecky but with 10km to go I knew we’d arrive together. It was then a huge shock when it came up on the TV screen in front of me that I finished third ahead of Vos. It was amazing – my best ever result. I’ve watched the video back a few times, including in the past couple of days, and it makes me smile. It was the nicest experience I’ve ever had in cycling.”
Georgi was ecstatic with third place at the 2024 edition of Roubaix. Photo by Zac Williams/SWpix.com
As Picnic’s leader, a three-time British champion, and a winner of a trio of different one-day Belgian races in the past two years, the 24-year-old has the capabilities to go even better this time around. “Last year I felt awful at Flanders but really good at Roubaix, so it gave me confidence that even if other races in the spring don’t go perfectly, if everything goes well at Roubaix, anything’s possible. The nice thing about this race is that even if you have a mechanical or crash, you can still get a good result, so you can never give up.”
The key to denying Kopecky and SD Worx-Protime is clear to Georgi. “We need to be aggressive and take our opportunities before the favourites go,” she says. “Where can we make the race rather than waiting and being on the back foot? In Roubaix you need to be up at the front, aggressive and then the race will come to you.” The women’s peloton as a whole has been accused of being too conservative so far this season, something Georgi acknowledges. “I hope others are aggressive, but if not we will be anyway. You can’t be reactive and wait for Lotte to go when you see the power she has. We have to use our numbers, get ahead early and play a tactical game. She and her team are really strong so it’s not the smartest to wait around for them and just hold the wheel.”
A year ago, Georgi was presented with a small cobble for making it onto the podium – “it’s at the team’s house as my luggage was overweight with it in so I couldn’t take it home!” she laughs – and she’s dreaming of upgrading to a much bigger one. “It’s a dream of mine to win this race. Roubaix is so unpredictable so maybe third will be the best I get, but if everything lines up, I could win it one day. It’s a dream I have and I try to focus on what I can control. Last year was the first time I’ve entered the velodrome fighting for the win and it was even more special because your whole life can change in one lap.”
Cover image by Eloise Mavain/Tornanti.cc
