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I keep calling these result booklets "plaquettes" for historical continuity, but they haven't been officially called plaquettes since the last French-language edition in 1999. This 2019 "brouchure" is much more compact and stylish than ever bofore. The welcome letters from politicians and heads of cycling organizations is gone, and rider testimonials are trimmed to one offering. There isn't even an account of the ride from the first finisher, though we still have reflections from representatives of the controls and the participating nations. I think the start location at the Bergerie Nationale at Rambouillet had a profound influence on the character of the event. Did the pastoral setting have a calming effect? Also new, and calming, in 2019 was the introduction of the rolling start. Riders rode over the starting electronic pad at different times, so even riders in the same start groups would have different times out on the road. The prospect of an en route race among the A start group riders was unlikely to materialize. In fact only two A group riders finished in the top ten. The first finisher was from the F group - the first ever "SP" (SPecial bike) first-finisher in PBP history. As always I'm going to list the "Vital Statics" following this blurb. Again, this is for my sense of historical continuity, looking back to a time when the plaquette was the primary source of PBP results information. Notice the particularly fast first solo woman's time - the second fastest in PBP history. The quickest tandem was the same pair as in 2015, but one team member changed her last name to match the other team member. Curious. Finally, no one died riding the 2019 event, and this hasn’t been the case in recent PBPs. We can all be thankful for this. PBP 2019 Vital Statistics: Participants (Starters): 6418 |
