Arguably the greatest one-day cycling race in the world, Paris-Roubaix is a race every cycling fan has to watch in person at least once. But what’s it like to ride? BikeRadar’s Josh Evans headed over there to find out…
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A short history of Paris-Roubaix
The race’s first edition was held in 1896 and it’s since grown in stature to become one of cycling’s five ‘Monuments’, generally considered to be the oldest, hardest and most prestigious one-day event in road cycling. Paris-Roubaix includes some of the longest, toughest stretches of cobbles in cycling, like the notorious forest of Arenberg.
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As its name implies, the race goes from near Paris — modern editions of the race actually depart from Compiègne — to the town of Roubaix in Northern France, just shy of the Belgian border. Often called the Hell of the North, many cycling fans believe the name refers to the brutality of racing on the cobbles. In fact, the term came from a description of northern France after the First World War, during which the area was bombed heavily.
The 2016 edition, won by Mat Hayman, was the 114th running of the race. The 257.5km event featured 27 secteurs of the feared pavé for a total of 52.8km on stones. Of the 199 riders on the startlist, only 119 finished, some nearly 25 minutes behind Hayman.
We were invited to recce the new route of an exclusive '2-day spring classic' held by event organisers HotChillee, which takes in the final 111km of the actual race route, includes 17 sections of brutal cobbles and finishes in the iconic Roubaix velodrome.
How to prepare for the cobbles
- 28mm (or wider) tyres
- Drop your tyre pressure to at least 80psi
- Double wrap the handebar tape
- Tape your wrists
The route we covered
You can read more at BikeRadar.com
via BikeRadar All the latest from BikeRadar.com http://www.bikeradar.com/road/gear/article/what-its-like-to-ride-paris-roubaix-48553/
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