Paris-Roubaix safety concerns as tacks found on the course

Tacks have been found spread on the Paris-Roubaix route just hours before the men's peloton will take to the cobbles for the third Monument of the season.

Dutch cycling journalist and commentator José Been was out on the bike this morning, riding the course ahead of the race, and shared a photo of the tacks found on the road.

Lovely. Tacks on the road pic.twitter.com/ye6EX1UcTu

— José Been (@JoseBeenTV) April 9, 2023

While it remains unclear who spread them, they could easily cause a puncture, a presumably targeted attack at sabotaging the race that raises safety concerns.

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Last July, fans on the Col d'Aubisque found tacks near the summit ahead of the next day's Tour de France stage, while in 2012 a number of riders including a yellow jersey-wearing Bradley Wiggins suffered punctures due to tacks being spread across the road on the Mur de Péguère.

Ahead of last year's RideLondon sportive one rider reported to road.cc that they had suffered a puncture on the route, subsequently spotting a tack in their tyre and many more on the road.

There have also been countless other UK examples of non-professional cyclists being targeted with nails or similar objects spread on popular cycle lanes or routes.

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Elsewhere on the Roubaix course this morning, anti-Macron graffiti was spotted spraypainted on the road at the entrance to a pavé sector. Protests at Macron's plans to raise France's retirement age saw a famous Parisian bistro frequented by the president set on fire earlier this week.

Bien arrivé 😍 pic.twitter.com/qBVN73iL8v

— Charly M. (@SeriousCharly) April 9, 2023

The picture comes from the four-star Tilloy à Sars-et-Rosières sector around 70km from the finish and while some suggested the 'FDP' could simply be celebrating the nation's president as a 'fan of pavé', the acronym has a somewhat less complimentary meaning in France.

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It remains to be seen if the 'artwork' will still be in place by the time the race passes.

It's not all political tension and anti-social puncture threats however...

The first @JumboVismaRoad fan is out on the course!

😍😍😍 #ParisRoubaix pic.twitter.com/66wNarhecj

— José Been (@JoseBeenTV) April 9, 2023