Paris-Roubaix is one of professional cycling's most iconic races with the muddy cobbled roads of northern France testing riders to their limits and ensuring only the very best emerge to fight for victory. It often comes down to a small group sprint to decide the winner in the Roubaix velodrome.
Paris-Roubaix is one of the oldest races on the UCI WorldTour calendar. It was first held in 1896 and each edition of the race has left a mark on the history of the sport. Josef Fischer won the first ever edition, with only four other riders finishing within an hour of his time. Fischer remains the only German winner of Paris-Roubaix, with Belgian and French riders dominating the list of winners (58 and 26 victories respectively). Italy is next with 11 victories, including three consecutive victories by Francesco Moser in 1978, 1979 and 1980.
Paris-Roubaix was dubbed the l'enfer du Nord or the 'Hell of the North' after the First World War left the race route desolated and in ruins. The organisers did not know if the route was even passable but found a way around the trenches and the shell holes so the riders could reach Roubaix.
The creation of modern roads after the Second World War and the economic boom of the sixties lead to many of the cobbled farm tracks being covered by asphalt or dug up all together, threatening the survival of Paris-Roubaix. Fortunately the Les Amis de Paris–Roubaix Association was formed in 1983 and has lovingly restored and protected sections of cobblestones ever since.
The current race route is close to 260km long and includes 28 sections of cobbles that make up close to a fifth of the total race distance. The first part of the race is on normal roads, with the most testing cobbled sections packed into the final 100km. The Forest of Arenberg after 160km traditionally marks the point when the racing begins in earnest and it is where the top contenders show their form. Decisive attacks are often launched on the three-kilometre long Mons-en-Pévèle sector, near Cysoing or on the Camphin-en-Pévèle sector. However Paris-Roubaix can be decided in a split second by a crash, a puncture or a small gap forming in the line of riders as they bounce along the cobbles.
The powerfully built Classics riders enjoy racing on the cobbles and so love Paris-Roubaix. However many other riders hate the pain and suffering involved. Five-times Tour de France winner Bernard Hinault finished fourth in 1980, won it with a show of anger and determination in 1981 but then crashed numerous times in 1982. He refused ever to ride Paris-Roubaix again. Some riders agree with him but others consider making it to the finish in the iconic Roubaix velodrome as a special moment in their career.
In 2014 Niki Terpstra of the Netherlands added his name to the illustrious roll call of winners and became only the sixth Dutchman to raise the cobblestone winner's prize in the centre of the Roubaix velodrome.