Paris-Roubaix

French one-day cycling race, one of the five monuments

Paris-Roubaix is a famous single-day professional bicycle road race held in northern France starting in Compiègne and finishing in Roubaix, near the Belgian frontier. It was one of the ten UCI Road World Cup races and became part of the UCI ProTour. It is one of the 'Classic cycle races' has the nickname The Hell of the North .[1]

Paris-Roubaix
Race details
Date Early-April
Region Northern France
English name Paris-Roubaix
Local name(s) Paris-Roubaix (in French)
Nickname(s) The Hell of the North
Queen of the Classics
The Easter race
Discipline Road
Competition UCI ProTour
Type Monument one-day race
Organiser Amaury Sport Organisation
History
First edition 1896
Editions 105 (as of 2007)
First winner  GER Josef Fischer
Most wins  BEL Roger De Vlaeminck
(4 wins)
Most recent  AUS Stuart O'Grady

History

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Paris-Roubaix is one of the oldest professional bicycle races. Théo Vienne and Maurice Perez got the idea to run the race and in 1896, the sports newspaper Le Vélo worked out original route between Paris and Roubaix.[2] The race has been contested every year since 1896, stopped only by the two World wars.

The first edition of the race was held at Easter, April 19 1896, so it got the nickname of La Pascale(English: The Easter).

188 competitors left the Bois de Boulogne park in Paris and raced almost 300 kilometres to Roubaix.[3] Josef Fischer, the winner of this first edition, received 1000 francs.[4]

The race is now organised by the media group Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) who also run the Tour de France.

Riders are often covered from head to toe in mud and grit, and race over the cobblestoned roads and hard rutted tracks of northern France. However, the race got the nickname l'enfer du Nord, or the Hell of the North from journalists who watched the race after world war I, and saw it pass through many of the ruins, craters, and destruction along the way.[5]

 
In the Vélodrome in Roubaix the last 750 metres of the race takes place

Originally, the race was from Paris to Roubaix, but in 1966 the starting location was moved to Chantilly, 50 kilometres to the north of Paris, to be moved in 1977 to Compiègne, approximately 80 kilometres to the north of Paris.[6] Famous for rough terrain, the route of Paris-Roubaix is adjusted slightly from year to year as the older roads are resurfaced and the race organisers seek to replace them with other challenging cobbles, to maintain the character of the race - in 2005, for example, the race included 54.7 kilometres of cobbled sections.[7] The race finishes with 750 meters on the smooth concrete expanses of the large outdoor velodrome in Roubaix.

The bicycles of Paris-Roubaix

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Due to its challenging course, and poor weather conditions, Paris-Roubaix presents a challenge to riders, team support personnel, and equipment alike. Special frames and wheels are often used specifically for Paris-Roubaix, in various configurations depending on the weather conditions.

References

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  1. "I'm talking total cobbles". www.guardian.co.uk. 5 April 2006. Retrieved 1 September 2007.
  2. "The real Hell of the North". www.cyclingnews.com. 16 April 2006. Retrieved 5 September 2007.
  3. "Paris-Roubaix 1998". uci.ch. 12 April 1998. Retrieved 10 September 2007.
  4. "102nd Paris Roubaix Preview". www.dailypeloton.com. 9 April 2004. Archived from the original on 20 September 2007. Retrieved 1 September 2007.
  5. "WWIII: La Trouée d'Arenberg is back". www.cyclingnews.com. 9 April 2006. Retrieved 1 September 2007.
  6. "Roubaix @ Roubaix - Specializing in cobbles". www.cyclingnews.com. 21 June 2006. Retrieved 1 September 2007.
  7. "Paris-Roubaix 2005". www.letour.fr. 4 April 2005. Retrieved 5 September 2007.

Further reading

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Winners

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Country Year Name Team Team Country
  Germany 1896 Josef Fischer
  Italy 1897 Maurice Garin
  Italy 1898 Maurice Garin
  France 1899 Albert Champion
  France 1900 Emile Bouhours
  France 1901 Lucien Lesna
  France 1902 Lucien Lesna
  France 1903 Hippolyte Aucouturier
  France 1904 Hippolyte Aucouturier
  France 1905 Louis Trousselier
  France 1906 Henri Cornet
  France 1907 Georges Passerieu
  Belgium 1908 Cyrille Van Hauwaert
  France 1909 Octave Lapize
  France 1910 Octave Lapize
  France 1911 Octave Lapize
  France 1912 Charles Crupelandt
  Luxembourg 1913 François Faber
  France 1914 Charles Crupelandt
Not held 1915 World War I
1916
1917
1918
  France 1919 Henri Pélissier
  Belgium 1920 Paul Deman
  France 1921 Henri Pélissier
  Belgium 1922 Berten Dejonghe
   Switzerland 1923 Heiri Suter
  Belgium 1924 Jules Van Hevel
  Belgium 1925 Felix Sellier
  Belgium 1926 Julien Delbecque
  Belgium 1927 Georges Ronsse
  France 1928 Andre Leducq
  Belgium 1929 Charles Meunier
  Belgium 1930 Julien Vervaecke
  Belgium 1931 Gaston Rebry
  Belgium 1932 Romain Gijssels
  Belgium 1933 Sylvère Maes
  Belgium 1934 Gaston Rebry
  Belgium 1935 Gaston Rebry
  France 1936 Georges Speicher
  Italy 1937 Jules Rossi
  Belgium 1938 Lucien Storme
  Belgium 1939 Emile Masson jr
Not held 1940 World War II
1941
1942
  Belgium 1943 Marcel Kint
  Belgium 1944 Maurice Desimpelaere
  France 1945 Paul Maye
  Belgium 1946 Georges Claes
  Belgium 1947 Georges Claes
  Belgium 1948 Rik Van Steenbergen
  France and 1949[1] André Mahé and
  Italy Serse Coppi
  Italy 1950 Fausto Coppi
  Italy 1951 Antonio Bevilacqua
  Belgium 1952 Rik Van Steenbergen
  Belgium 1953 Germain Derijcke
  Belgium 1954 Raymond Impanis
  France 1955 Jean Forestier
  France 1956 Louison Bobet
  Belgium 1957 Fred De Bruyne
  Belgium 1958 Leon Van Daele
  Belgium 1959 Noel Fore
  Belgium 1960 Pino Cerami
  Belgium 1961 Rik Van Looy
  Belgium 1962 Rik Van Looy
  Belgium 1963 Emile Daems
  Netherlands 1964 Peter Post
  Belgium 1965 Rik Van Looy
  Italy 1966 Felice Gimondi
  Netherlands 1967 Jan Janssen
  Belgium 1968 Eddy Merckx
  Belgium 1969 Walter Godefroot
  Belgium 1970 Eddy Merckx
  Belgium 1971 Roger Rosiers
  Belgium 1972 Roger De Vlaeminck
  Belgium 1973 Eddy Merckx
  Belgium 1974 Roger De Vlaeminck
  Belgium 1975 Roger De Vlaeminck
  Belgium 1976 Marc Demeyer
  Belgium 1977 Roger De Vlaeminck
  Italy 1978 Francesco Moser
  Italy 1979 Francesco Moser
  Italy 1980 Francesco Moser
  Belgium 1981 Bernard Hinault
  Netherlands 1982 Jan Raas
  Netherlands 1983 Hennie Kuiper
  Ireland 1984 Seán Kelly
  France 1985 Marc Madiot
  Ireland 1986 Seán Kelly
  Belgium 1987 Eric Vanderaerden
  Belgium 1988 Dirk Demol
  Belgium 1989 Jean-Marie Wampers
  Belgium 1990 Eddy Planckaert
  France 1991 Marc Madiot
  France 1992 Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle
  France 1993 Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle
  Ukraine 1994 Andrei Tchmil
  Italy 1995 Franco Ballerini
  Belgium 1996 Johan Museeuw
  France 1997 Frédéric Guesdon
  Italy 1998 Franco Ballerini Mapei-Bricobi   Italy
  Italy 1999 Andrea Tafi Mapei-Quick Step   Italy
  Belgium 2000 Johan Museeuw Mapei   Italy
  Netherlands 2001 Servais Knaven Domo-Farm Frites   Belgium
  France 2002 Johan Museeuw Lotto-Domo   Belgium
  France 2003 Peter Van Petegem Lotto-Domo   Belgium
  Sweden 2004 Magnus Bäckstedt Alessio-Bianchi   Italy
  Belgium 2005 Tom Boonen Quick Step   Belgium
   Switzerland 2006 Fabian Cancellara Team CSC   Denmark
  Australia 2007 Stuart O'Grady Team CSC   Denmark
  Belgium 2008 Tom Boonen Quick Step   Belgium
  Belgium 2009 Tom Boonen Quick Step   Belgium
   Switzerland 2010 Fabian Cancellara Saxo Bank   Denmark
10 April 2011

References

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  1. tied

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