The cobbles of Paris-Roubaix provide an epic backdrop (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
The Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) announced today some details of the 2014 Paris-Roubaix route, featuring the inclusion of several cobblestone sectors absent from the parcours in recent editions. Of importance to riders in the 2014 Tour de France, also organised by ASO, are specifics regarding the nine cobbled sectors of Paris-Roubaix which will also feature in stage 5 of the Tour de France.
The 112th edition of Paris-Roubaix, contested on April 13, 2014, will cover 257 total kilometres and feature 51.1 kilometres of its signature cobblestone roads, divided among 28 different sectors.
The sequence of the first pave sectors has been revamped in order to visit some cobbled sections that had been left “fallow” for several years. While the peloton will first encounter cobbles as usual after approximately 100 kilometres of racing near Troisvilles, almost 20 kilometres further on, the pack will deviate from last year’s route to ride cobbled sections at Haussy (800m) and Saulzoir (1,200m), both re-integrated into the route after an absence of 10 years. As for the 1,200m section at Famars, it has only been absent for two years.
Many of the riders contesting Paris-Roubaix will have a second taste of the Hell of the North's cobbles during stage 5 of this year's Tour de France, covering 156km between Ypres and Arenberg Porte du Hainaut. In July, however, the peloton will be revisiting the pave sectors in the opposite direction starting with the section at Gruson, where the riders in Paris-Roubaix will almost have the finishing velodrome in sight. Only the section at Mons-en-Pévèle will be tackled in the same direction in both Paris-Roubaix and the Tour de France, but only for a portion measuring 1,000m in July.
Cobbled sections featured in both Paris-Roubaix and stage 5 of the Tour de France: Gruson - Carrefour de l’arbre (1,100m) Ennevelin - Pont-Thibaut (1,400m) Mons-en-Pévèle (3,000m in Paris-Roubaix / 1000m in Tour de France) Bersée (2,600m in Paris-Roubaix / 1,400m in the Tour de France) Orchies - Beuvry (1,400m) Sars-et-Rosières - Tilloy-lez-Marchiennes (2,400m) Brillon - Warlaing (2,400m in Paris-Roubaix / 1,400m in the Tour de France) Wandignies-Hamage - Hornaing (3,700m) Hélesmes - Wallers (1,600m)
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