Former Paris-Roubaix winner John Degenkolb believes the proposal to fill the gaps between cobbles of the Arenberg Forest with mortar is the best way to safeguard rider safety. Degenkolb, an ambassador for Les Amis de Paris-Roubaix - the volunteer group that maintains the cobbles for the race - says that putting mortar between the rough cobbles will allow the Arenberg to be ridden in all weather. Degenkolb won the cobbled stage of this year`s Tour de France. At the end of November, French publication La Voix du Nord reported that the race organisation was looking into ways of preventing grass from growing onto the cobbles. As chemical weed killers are not permitted in the forest, Les Amis de Paris-Roubaix use a thermal method each spring to burn away the grass and moss that grows between the cobbles. However the race organisers want something more permanent. According to the report, mortar would be laid between the gaps in the cobbles to prevent the grass from growing. The Trek-Segafredo rider believes that the addition of the mortar will not have any material effect on how the cobbles feel to ride but it will make them safer. `It will always be a challenge. It`s not that they are putting asphalt on it,` Degenkolb told Cyclingnews at Trek-Segafredo`s training camp in Sicily. `I don`t think it`s a bad decision. When I read it, at first, I thought it`s holy and you can`t change anything there. In this forest, they can`t use poison to keep the grass away so if you fill it up with the concrete you don`t change the position of the stones you just fill the gaps. `I think, riding over it, you won`t notice the difference but it just makes it safer. If there is a lot of rain before, the grass grows before the race. If we have a rainy edition and all the grass is on the cobbles it`s basically impossible to ride. I`d prefer to have the mortar in between and have the possibility to go to the Arenberg even if it`s raining rather than skipping it because it`s too danger ...
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