Is a gravel bike the answer to Paris-Roubaix’s mud-caked cobbles?
The Israel-Premier Tech team will use Factor’s Ostro Gravel at Paris-Roubaix on Sunday, with riders spotted on the gravel race bike during a pre-race recon of the infamous Arenberg sector.
With 29 cobbled sectors, Paris-Roubaix places a unique demand on riders and their equipment – and Israel-Premier Tech will switch from the usual race-day bike, the new Factor Ostro VAM, as a result.
In years past, the Hell of the North has seen a complete equipment overhaul. Endurance road bikes, cross-top brakes, sponsor-incorrect tyres, cantilever brakes and 32-spoke wheels were all common before Mat Hayman’s breakthrough win aboard the Scott Foil aero bike in 2016.
Hayman’s victory signalled a new tech era at Paris-Roubaix. With disc-equipped road bikes offering generous tyre clearances compared to traditional rim brake bikes, there’s now little reason for riders to switch to a Roubaix-specific machine.
Israel-Premier Tech will buck that trend, though.
From Unbound to Paris-Roubaix
The Ostro Gravel was launched in September 2022, designed as a thoroughbred gravel race bike for top-tier events such as Unbound – and now, it seems, Paris-Roubaix.
It has an aero-shaped frame, race-focussed geometry and clearance for 45c gravel tyres, though the Israel-Premier Tech team won’t be taking full advantage of that room at Paris-Roubaix.
We’re waiting on confirmation on the team’s tyre choice for Sunday’s Monument, but the team appears to be using Continental’s Grand Prix 5000S TR tubeless tyre on recon rides.
The GP5000 S TR is available in a maximum width of 32c, which is the same as the available tyre clearance on the Ostro VAM aero bike.
So why the switch to the Ostro Gravel? An extremely wet spring in northern Europe could see Sunday’s race contested over slick, mud-caked cobblestones.
The team could be looking to avoid any issues with mud clearance – or they could be using a tyre even wider than the 32c Continental rubber typically available to the public. It could, of course, also be a move to prompt pre-race column inches.
We’ve asked Israel-Premier Tech for clarification and will update this story when we know more.