A question that has come up repeatedly at the riders' press conferences ahead of the 2023 Paris-Roubaix and Paris-Roubaix Femme Avec Zwift.

Jumbo Visma and Team DSM have confirmed that their male riders will adopt the Gravaa KAPS and Scope Atmos systems, respectively, but the women's team did not test this system this year.

"At the moment we have two race systems and two spare systems for Sunday's race," Team DSM explained to Cycling News.

"We hope to use them in the women's race in 2024, but for the time being they will only be used in the men's race."

Speaking to Cycling News at the start of the Paris-Roubaix Femme, Lucas Kruse, communications officer for Team DSM, explained that in addition to the lack of systems, the small number of cobbled sectors on the women's route influenced the decision.

Riders also needed time to train on the device, which has dual controls to inflate and deflate tires on one side of the handlebars and provides only five re-inflated pumps for the entire race.

Cruz explained that the female riders of Team DSM were very intrigued and would like to use this technology as soon as supplies become available and hopefully validated by testing in men's races.

Jumbo Visma similarly cited supply challenges when asked if female riders would test the Gravaa system. However, unlike Team DSM, Jumbo-Visma's female riders did not even inquire about the possibility of Marianne Voss using the system, explained Femke Moules, the press officer.

Therefore, Sunday's men's race will be a turning point in understanding the potential of this system. In previous years, the women's race had teams testing new innovations such as tubeless tires and 1x group sets.

Trek Segafredo, in particular, has used the women's race as a test bed for new equipment. Last year, the team unveiled its new Trek Domane in the women's race ahead of the men's race, and the previous year the team experimented with a tubeless tire system in the women's race, which was won by Trek Segafredo's Lizzie Dayignan.

Elisa Longo-Borghini was asked at a pre-race press conference if Trek-Segafredo was considering introducing a similar tire inflation system in this year's race. He said, "With new technology, new equipment, we always have to go the distance. It would be great. We haven't tried it at Trek yet."

Longo-Borghini also noted the impact of the different terrain on the men's and women's routes on equipment selection. This year, the women will primarily use Trek's Domane bikes, while the men will primarily use the aerodynamic Madone bikes.

"The men will ride 100 km of asphalt before they hit the first cobblestone section. One of the riders on the podium in the last few years has been one of the breakaway group in the early stages."

"Percentage-wise, there are more cobblestones than in the men's race (compared to the length of the race), so you need a softer bike to get over the cobblestones, which is the biggest thing.

Over the past few decades, the nature of bicycle technology in Paris-Roubaix has been constantly changing, and if Jumbo Visma and Team DSM have a successful Sunday, the equipment used throughout the World Tour peloton will undoubtedly change significantly. At the same time, however, experimental rear suspension systems could easily disappear from the race.