That, the chunk of rock above, is what they are racing for.
Paris-Roubaix is on this Sunday, 7th April. The 3rd of five monuments, it is many peoples favourite.
It has been called the Hell of the North, a Sunday in Hell (also the title of a film about the 1976 edition of the race), the Queen of the Classics or la Pascale: the Easter race – Wiki – Paris-Roubaix
Route Map
Once again, for Australian viewers, SBS will be showing the race live from 9:30PM.
Paris-Roubaix is LIVE from 9:30pm AEST Sunday 7 April on SBS ONE, with live streaming online at here at Cycling Central. It will be hosted by Michael Tomalaris with Henk Vogels and commentary from Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen. David McKenzie will provide reports from Europe.
If you aren’t in Australia, you can watch live streams as well as tickers at either cyclingfans.com or steephill.tv
The iconic cycling movie, A Sunday in Hell, was on Youtube in full, but has been pulled down. There are still some grabs of it.
Another video that springs to mind is George Hincapie suddenly sitting up and then flying off after his steerer tube snapped.
If you have ever wondered why it happened, check out the photo on this page.
The best video I have seen to show just what the riders and bikes go through is this one.
Watch it full screen. It is pretty amazing how tough it is on bike and rider.
The Arenberg Trench is probably the most well known section of cobbles. To see riders flying into The Trench makes my hair stand up on the back of my neck!
Photo – Jack Thurston
If you want some bizarre stories about a bike race, check the Wiki page here.
Fantastic race with a fantastic history. I can’t wait for Sunday night.
I have those rocks on my driveway, not that bad š