TBT: Paris-Roubaix 2016
We looked on helplessly at Mitch Docker as he laid on the pavé of the Trouée d'Arenberg wearing a red mask of blood.
“I cannot see this. I do NOT need to see this.
I cannot see this. I do NOT need to see this.
I cannot see this. I do NOT need to see this.”
Cried one rider as he jumped over the barriers and abandoned the race in shock.
None of us will forget the sight of that crash.
Paris Roubaix 2016
My dream brief landed on my desk - to film the story of Paris Roubaix 2016 with Team Sky.
Jørgen Leth’s ‘A Sunday in Hell’ is my favourite cycling film of all time (If only I could create such a masterpiece).
I took my little Olympus Trip 35mm camera in my pocket to capture some ‘point and shoot snaps’. Film photography always feels more romantic than digital. I think it’s the nostalgia and anticipation of waiting for your images to be developed.
Due to the morality of photographing a crash, I haven’t published these photographs before. However, Mitch Docker made a full recovery and has taken it all in his stride. Looking back, I think it’s a story and experience worth sharing you.
We split into two film units to capture as much of the race as possible. As Director, I was responsible for capturing Team Sky at the hotel in Chantilly, the infamous Arenberg Forest (one of three ‘five-star’ pavé sections) and finally, the Roubaix Velodrome to capture the finish and interview Team Sky’s podium hopefuls, Luke Rowe and Ian Stannard.
The second unit was directed by my colleague Simon Corkin, he was accompanied by legendary cycling photographer - Russ Ellis. They were responsible for capturing the depart in Chantilly and the finish line action in the Roubaix Velodrome, where we would join forces.
We arrived the day before to recce all of the locations.
My crew lucked out. We stayed in the same hotel as Team Sky, so that we could film with them ahead of the race. This was possibly the most exclusive hotel I have ever stayed in… It has a gourmet restaurant, La Table du Connétable, which is starred in the Michelin Guide. While the crew tucked into a pheasant dish, I chose the carrot soup, this might sound like ‘the boring option’, but everyone’s eyes grew envious when my plate arrived. Carrots cooked in five different ways with every texture, method and craft imaginable (always check google and Instagram before you go to a restaurant).
The second crew stayed in a cheap ‘Travelodge-style’ hotel in an industrial park and had the French equivalent of Dominoes Pizza for dinner. I don’t know where I get my ‘diva’ reputation from?
10/04/2016 - The 114th Edition of Paris Roubaix
I get up at 4am every day without fail. It was a misty grey morning, I went for a walk to listen to the birdsong and clear my head. I wasn’t expecting any company, neither did I want it. I always use this time to plan and prioritise my day.
“This is my time, why are you all invading my time?”
I was still dark, but the Team Sky mechanics were already in the hotel car park, working inside the service vehicle. ‘Okay, Gareth, no time to plan - let’s get to work’.
Like Paris-Roubaix, you can plan and plan, but you just have to go out and ‘meet the man with the hammer’. Plans change and you have to react. So, I dragged the crew out of bed and we started filming the mechanics as they prepped the bikes.
‘Military precision’ looks careless, messy and amateur in comparison to Team Sky’s ‘marginal gains’ culture. Other pro teams began to follow suit. First BMC, then Cannondale, Before long, the whole car park was full of busy mechanics loading the ‘weapons’ for battle.
The mechanics were joined by Directeur Sportif, Servais Knaven (Paris Roubaix Champion 2001) and the staff, to run through the plan again, again and again. Trays of rice cakes, water bottles, gels and bars, wheels, kit, spare bikes, tools, etc, were being packed into the Team Cars.
Many hours later the riders came down for breakfast. Their only job at this stage was to get enough sleep and eat enough breakfast. It’s a long day ahead and the hard part is yet to come.
The Trouée d'Arenberg
As soon as I received this brief, I knew wanted to film the iconic pavé sector of the Arenberg forest.
We left the hotel in our van and headed over. It was empty. Perfect, we can pick the best spot and set up our kit. I tried to access to the old railway bridge, but officials wouldn't allow us, so we set up on the roadside (cobble-side?).
My camera operator was used to filming TV, films and commercials. He knew nothing about cycling and couldn’t understand why I was making him film empty, bleak cobbled roads. A few amateur cyclists began passing by:
“What the FUCK! They are going to be riding those ‘little racing bikes’ over these cobbles? I thought they were going to be on mountain bikes or something.”
The penny dropped…
“Yeah, now you know why they call it ‘The Hell of the North.’”
I could hear the fans arriving. They were already pissed and made more noise than the Tour de France caravan. I’m glad we arrived early, it was filling up.
Now that Britain has become a cycling nation, Roubaix has captured their hearts and minds. There were Union Jack flags and Team Sky caps everywhere.
Belgians, Brits, French, Dutch and Italians dominated the roadside, but the ‘Peter Sagan fan club’ was my favourite. They came to wave the Slovakian flag at our World Champion.
Team Sky was founded on two equal pillars: to win the worlds biggest bike races and to inspire people to ride a bike. Filming fans on the roadside was equally important as capturing the race.
On the opposite side of the cobbles stood the ‘Ian Stannard fan club’, a family of British cyclists with Team Sky Jerseys and a giant Union Jack. I sent my producer over with a bag of Team Sky goodies and some release forms, as the children were under sixteen, we needed parental permission to film them. They were more than happy to help.
Their father: “Who is your favourite to win?”
Me: “Boonen.”
Father: “Not Stannard?”
Me: “I want Luke Rowe to win, but I think Boonen will take his 5th.”
Whole family (chanting): “We want Stannard to win.”
Me: “He deserves a win and has the power. You might get what you wished for.”
What do people do on the roadside of a cobbled classic? They drink beer and dance. People from every nation and walk of life were shuffling along the cobbles in ‘conga style’. The Gendarmerie on came through on motorbikes to clear the way. The sound of the helicopter filled the air. The race was coming.
The first group came through. I was so focused on directing my camera operator, observing his framing on the monitor and making sure we were capturing the young girl’s excitement as her hero, Ian Stannard raced passed, while ‘multitasking’ and blindly shooting a frame with my Olympus Trip… that I missed the crash.
I heard the unmistakable ‘hollow echo’ of carbon bikes smashing together, and the haunting thud of bodies bouncing on the ground.
The surrounding fans called out like a synchronised pantomime audience. Not the, ‘He’s behind you.’ or the ‘Oh no, it isn't.’ - ‘Oh yes, it is.’ - I mean the ‘Ahhhh’s and Oooh’s’.
Then it fell silent.
Silence is bad after a crash.
Me: “Cut the camera.”
Camera op: “What’s happened, Gareth”
Me: “I don’t know, yet… But It’s not good.”
“I cannot see this. I do NOT need to see this.
I cannot see this. I do NOT need to see this.
I cannot see this. I do NOT need to see this.”
Cried one shocked rider as he threw his bike over the barriers, climbed over and pedalled away from the scene.
Me: “Oh fuck, this must be bad.”
Despite telling my camera-op to ‘cut’, I contradicted myself and photographed the unfolding event with my Olympus Trip (do as I say, not as I do).
Team cars filled the road. The gendarmerie arrived on the scene and surrounded the crash. Elia Viviani hobbled out of the mêlée in disbelief. He lent over the barrier, assessing the damage. It looked like he had sustained a leg injury, but relatively speaking, he got away lightly.
Despite the horrifying scene that was about to reveal itself, one ‘fan’ was grinning with delight while getting his photo taken with (a clearly distressed) Viviani and his bike.
Servais arrived quickly to Vivian’s aid (and a mechanic to reclaim his bike).
The race must go on
The consequences of the crash were slowly revealed as the road began to clear. Officials attempted to create a ‘tent’ out of foil blankets around a rider on the floor.
The makeshift tent blew away to reveal the red mask of blood over Mitch Dockers face as he laid on the pavé of the Trouée d'Arenberg. I couldn’t see a single patch of skin, he was covered in a thick layer of glossy red blood. Transfixed in disbelief, I couldn’t look away.
Mitch looked like Red Skull, the Marvel character…
The silence continued. I think ‘disbelief’ was a shared feeling.
Where’s the ambulance? Why isn’t anyone helping him? We stood there staring helplessly. It felt like hours until help arrived, I had no perception of time.
The ‘Queen of the Classics’ is cruel and magnificent in equal measures.
The Velodrome
Once we’d squeezed past the crowds with our camera gear, we jumped into the van and headed towards the Velodrome to capture the finish, along with the rest of France, or so it seemed.
Roads were being closed, getting to Roubaix seemed impossible. Our driver found a detour - this is why I didn’t hire cyclists to be in our film crew, I hired professionals. Each person played their part without the distraction of Paris Roubaix. Our producer made it all happen, the camera operator found the story, our focus puller kept it sharp, sound recordist microphoned the right environments and our driver delivered us to the scene. We were all equals, all performing our tasks.
Our driver managed to deliver us about a kilometre from the Velodrome. We all bailed out, threw the kit on our shoulders and RAN.
I NEVER run anywhere. If you see me running, you better run too 😉 . I had to make an exception in this instance. The camera-op and focus-puller shared the weight of the camera ‘one handle each’. I had a tripod on my shoulder that weighed more than the cobblestone that Matt Hayman was about to lift over his head.
📸 : Russ Ellis
As we were running towards the entrance of the Velodrome, the leaders overtook us.
“Fuck, we are going to miss it!”
I blindly captured this image of Mathew Hayman and Tom Boonen on my Trip as I ran. True ‘Point and shoot’ photography.
Luckily, they have to do a one and a half laps of the track, and Simon’s crew were already planted inside the velodrome.
We just about made it.
Mathew Hayman took the win. Tom Boonen second and Ian Stannard third. This was a great outcome for us - Stannard was on the podium and Hayman took a well deserved, career-defining victory.
Matt Hayman
After completing my degree at UWTSD Swansea in September 2010, I was offered a position at Sky. The week before I moved to London to begin my new career, the Tour of Britain came to town (Stage 3: Newtown – Swansea, 150km). I watched from Constitution hill, a 300m long cobbled climb with a 20% gradient (Swansea’s ‘Koppenberg’).
Matt Hayman was in the Team Sky squad, along with Steve Cummings, Russell Downing, Greg Henderson, Geraint Thomas and Bradley Wiggins.
It was like fate… a week later I was sitting at my new desk, and the Team came to Sky Sports Studios for post-Tour of Britain interviews, etc. Hayman was a part of this, kind of… ‘defining moment’ in my life. (I have this limited edition signed ‘Team Sky Rainforest Rescue’ kit to mark the occasion.)
I couldn’t have been happier with his result.
The cycling world was in awe of Hayman’s victory, the loyal domestique-come-monument-champion finished his career in style. He was so modest in his victory, that he apologised to Tom Boonen for robbing him of his 5th Roubaix title.
Matt fractured the radius bone in his right arm during Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (February 27th) and spent his Roubaix preparation sat on a turbo trainer. He logged 1,000 miles on Zwift.
His arm wasn’t fully recovered. His victory… all the more legendary.
After the race, I interviewed Stannard and Rowe next to the Team Bus.
Here’s the film we created:
Thanks to COVID-19, we missed out on Roubaix this year. 2021 will be extra special.
Merci Roubaix.
Remind me why we don’t have women’s edition?
Gareth.