Margaux Vigié: "I'm just kind to the cobblestones"
April 2 nd 2025 - 15:53
THE UNBREAKABLES (II/V)
Episode I :
Paris–Roubaix is a race for specialists, perhaps the most untameable of the classics and certainly the one with the most severe physical and technical requirements. Its cruelty and harshness frighten some but also inspire many others, who make it the highlight of their season. A select few of these regulars have a 100% finish rate, but what is their secret to consistently completing the course? John Degenkolb, Jasper Stuyven and Oliver Naesen have never had to withdraw from the Queen of Classics, and the same goes for Margaux Vigié and Chiara Consonni, who have finished the first four editions of Paris–Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift. They told paris-roubaix.fr the details of their preparation, their technique for riding on the cobblestones, their little tricks and even the mental aspect of this challenge, which they have mastered a little better than the others.
Margaux Vigié got her first taste of cobblestones in 2018, long before the inaugural edition of Paris–Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift. Long before she even took up road cycling and later turned pro in 2020. "I was visiting my little sister, who was studying in Lille", recalls the 29-year-old from Toulouse. She covered the final 20 kilometres of the legendary monument in northern France on her fixed-gear bike, which she used to ride competitively at the time. "And even then, I took the wrong route! I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Everyone kept banging on and on about the cobblestones in Nord. I remember feeling happy afterwards… But, mostly, I remember how much everything rattled!" Seven years later, now an established road racer with Visma–Lease a Bike, the Frenchwoman is one of just eleven active riders to have completed all four editions of the race so far. Even so, she does not see herself as a specialist "because my top result was fourteenth [in 2023, finishing in the favourites' group that crossed the line 12 seconds behind the winning move]. Nothing to write home about! But I do enjoy riding on these cobblestones. I can handle it, at least!"
Margaux Vigié (Visma–Lease a Bike)
Born in Plaisance-du-Touch (Haute-Garonne, France) on 21 July 1995
Teams: Valcar–Travel & Service (2020–2022), Lifeplus–Wahoo (2023) and Visma–Lease a Bike (since 2024)
Major results:
2022: 4th in the French championship
2023: 7th in Le Samyn des Dames, 12th in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, 13th in Nokere Koerse, 16th in Dwars door Vlaanderen and 20th in the Tour of Flanders
2024: 8th in the Princess Anna Vasa Tour
2025: 12th in the Ixina GP Oetingen p/b Lotto 2025 and 17th in the Danilith Nokere Koerse
Finishes in Roubaix: 2021: 51st / 2022: 71st / 2023: 14th / 2024: 35th
Signature trait: Based in Girona, Catalonia, the Frenchwoman is fluent in English, Italian and Spanish. Since joining Visma–Lease a Bike last season, she has started learning a fifth language, Dutch. "I'm getting the hang of it. I can follow conversations better now and feel more included!"
THE PREP: "I TRUST THE STAFF 100%"
More than anywhere else, one factor is paramount in Paris–Roubaix: tyre pressure. It is essential to find the sweet spot where riders are "comfortable on the cobblestones but not bogged down on the tarmac, because that's also part of the race. You need to find the right pressure to be able to recover whenever you can." Reconnaissance rides are crucial for getting this dialled in. "We do the first one as early as December, but that's mostly just to refresh our memory of the course. Then, we get there three days before the race. The final little recce is on Thursday. Friday is an easy spin around the hotel. And Saturday is race day!" She keeps a close eye on the state of the cobblestones while out on a reconnaissance: "By now, we know them. We know which ones are always going to stay wet. We check out the sectors and see which ones have been resurfaced because sometimes they do last-minute repairs. We stop, we pump, we deflate, rinse and repeat. If we know a given sector is always quite wet, we might ride it multiple times just to test different pressures." As is to be expected, the final decision on race day "depends on the weather". She leaves the final say to the mechanics. "I trust them completely! Same goes for the directeurs sportifs. You can trust Jan Boven 100%. He has so much experience with the lads [the former Rabobank rider moved straight into a DS role after retiring in 2009 and has been working with the women's squad since last season]. When it comes to equipment, they really know their stuff. Racing with this team gives you that extra level of security for gear. And a sense of calm, too, because you know exactly which sectors demand full focus and where you can afford to breathe a bit."
THE COBBLESTONES: "MONS-EN-PÉVÈLE IS MY FAVOURITE"
She makes no secret of her preferences when gliding on the cobblestones: "The ones in the middle tend to be the smoothest, except at Carrefour de l'Arbre. If the sides are a bit wet, you have no idea what's lurking under the water. It's too much of a gamble. The sides are better than the middle, but for safety, the middle is a solid choice! Dry or wet, it makes no difference to her. "But that time Mons-en-Pévèle was completely soaked, I loved it because it was really technical. Let's just say that in dry conditions, you can play around some more with the edges of the cobbles. But in the wet, you have to think twice! And it forces the selection much earlier." Mons-en-Pévèle happens to be her favourite sector. "Unlike most people, I adore it! That big acceleration in the middle is brutal! There's one sector, though, that I just can't stand. The one in the forest, along the motorway, between Beuvry and Orchies! It's not even that long, but I think the cobblestones are just awful. Someone needs to put a camera in that forest to film everything that happens there during the race! And the verges are completely eaten away, just like in the Gruson sector. Except in the forest, you can't even see them properly!"
THE MENTAL ASPECT: "LIKE A VIDEO GAME"
She picked up a tip from her legendary teammate Marianne Vos, runner-up in 2021 and fourth last year: "She takes it one sector at a time. Sure, you need to study the final, but you should never think about it during the race. There are other things to focus on first. It's like a video game. You need to clear every level before you reach the final boss!" The first level of Paris–Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift is a 60-kilometre runway before the chips go down at the first sector. "The start has become even more frantic since the breakaway won [with Alison Jackson in 2023]. No-one managed to slip away last year. The peloton shuts everything down now because you never know if a move is going to stick." Heading into Paris–Roubaix, she makes a point of not making a mountain out of a molehill. "I've realised that I get stressed if I treat these races as a big deal. I tell myself it's just a normal day, a normal training ride, except that there happen to be a lot of people!" Music is her escape, a way to shut out the noise and arrive at the start line "as rested as possible": "I listen to all sorts of tunes. My playlists are totally eclectic! I go for feel-good tracks to get positive vibes, a tip I also got from Marianne since we've roomed together a lot. You don't want to get too hyped too soon, though. I save techno for the bus, right before the race!"
THE ABANDON THAT ALMOST WAS
Truth be told, that day has yet to come, judging by the confession that she hesitates to share: "Don’t tell anyone, but I've never had a puncture!" What is her secret? "Good question! I have no idea. I'm just kind to the cobblestones, I glide over them!", she giggles. She has only crashed once in the Hell of the North, and even that hardly counts. It happened during a recce last year, at the final corner of the Carrefour de l'Arbre, a stone's throw away from the restaurant where she had celebrated her sister's graduation a few weeks earlier. "I wasn't feeling great, I was struggling on the cobblestones, fighting against them too much. And when you start to lose speed… I lost the rear wheel and just went straight into a potato field! I wasn't hurt, though. It was more of a tumble-roll through the grass and mud!" Aside from that, there was that time when she "found the race painfully long, when I finished 71st", riding for Valcar. "Persec' [Silvia Persico] went flying in that sector I hate, under the trees. I didn't know whether to wait or not, and our DS, Davide Arzeni, told me to go. I ended up alone, in the wind, wondering what the hell I was doing there!" Her face lights up one last time as another memory comes rushing back: "It was the first edition. I was behind, chasing, and I saw Vittoria Guazzini [her teammate at the time] on the uphill section of Mons-en-Pévèle. You have to keep in mind she's very Italian, super laid-back but quick to fire up. I asked her if I should stop. She just looked at me, totally fed up, resigned, and said, 'Tutto bene! E va, va, va!' Everything's fine, go, catch up in a while! Only later did I find out she'd broken her ankle!"
THE EXTRA: "THERE WAS YELLOW EVERYWHERE"
One thing stood out to her last year during her first participation in the race in Visma–Lease a Bike colours: "There was yellow everywhere! I saw at least two or three people in our team kit at the exit of each sector." She has since uncovered the mystery behind the yellow-clad guardian angels, which she estimated at around twenty. "They turned out to be administration staff, all cycling fanatics, who volunteer to come help out on race weekends whenever the team needs them! We have a philosophy called Blanco Course. It was set up when Jumbo and Lotto took over [in 2015] to rebuild the squad from scratch after some rough years. There are six core pillars, and as part of this approach, the administrative staff are encouraged to get involved and lend a hand. It includes the finance team and the people who book our flights, as well as those who handle logistics and events. I realised who they were when I was chatting with one of the finance guys. He said to me, 'Hey, see you at the Tour of Flanders, I'll be there to help!'. It's brilliant! It gives you a real sense of calm and confidence, knowing that all these people in yellow are there in case anything goes wrong mechanically."