A breakdown of Hell: The pavé of Paris-Roubaix

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It begins.(Image credit: Ben Atkins)

Tales from the (cobbled) peloton, April 12, 2008 - Page 1 of 2

Between the start in front of Napoleon's Chateau in Compiegne and the finish line on the concrete track of Roubaix's velodrome is 52.8km of the most unforgiving road surfaces that Europe has to offer. Rarely used by normal traffic, these cobbled tracks are more used to the rumble of passing tractors than the swish of bicycle tyres, but once a year the biggest one-day race in the world uses them to define its very character. Cyclingnews' pavé-ophile Ben Atkins takes us on his annual journey through the twenty-eight levels of Hell, and picks up slight changes since last year.

The route turns off the main road out of the picturesque village of Troisville on to a narrow track and first timers get a nice rude awakening as to why this race is so special. Sadly for the many riders here under sufferance, the feed zone is another 47km away - the Euskaltel team springs to mind here, now forced to ride under ProTour regulations, but teams like this have always taken part in order to curry favour with the organisers ASO, so that they could get a Tour de France invitation.

A gap between two buildings in the village of Quiévy sees the start of this next secteur. It's generally - relatively - pretty well surfaced and starts off fairly level, but before too long the inevitable patched up tarmac area appears and it becomes much more of a false flat rising up between fields on either side. Suddenly, the "road" takes a sharp right hander and heads directly for the village of Saint-Python - it's relationship to Monty and his Flying Circus is currently unestablished.

This one is a bit nasty. Despite the rating of only three stars - mostly because the surface isn't as bad as it could be - it's quite a difficult secteur. The first few hundred metres descend at a fairly rapid rate (although nothing like the Kemmelberg in Gent-Wevelgem!) and riders will want to build up as much momentum as possible on this part because once it bottoms out it begins to climb at a rate of 7% for several hundred metres. Nothing by Tour of Flanders standards, but nevertheless enough to sap the legs, especially of the inevitable breakaway riders.

This is quite a long secteur, but it's only been given three stars by virtue of the fact that other than a gentle false flat for a few hundred metres in the first half, it's mostly downhill. The last kilometre or so descends quite rapidly and requires a great deal of concentration as this kind of surface can dislodge bottles. It's also very muddy, so it is important to try and ride on the most level part possible. This is usually the crown of the road as the wheeltracks on both sides tend to be either off camber or full of potholes - or sometimes both.

This is the beginning of the softening up process as the race approaches its final hundred kilometres. Riders have been able to have a bit of a break since the last secteur, but this one will make a lot of people hurt! It's relatively flat, with only a slight rise during the first half, but even this can be felt as the uneven surface does its best to check your progress. Throughout its length, the cobbles are in a variety of states ranging from well arranged and smooth to seemingly random which will destroy the rhythm of a lot of riders and allow the strong teams to begin applying the pressure in anticipation of the next, legendary part of the race.

What can you say about Arenberg that hasn't been said a million times before. For many people - fans and detractors alike - this is the essence of Paris-Roubaix. Despite the fact that it's still nearly 100 km from the velodrome, there is always incident. This is the point where - because of the extremity of the surface - the favourites start to put the hurt on to the also-rans, and hopefully on to each other. Discovered by former Tour winner - and local boy - Jean Stablinski, and introduced in the 1968 race (the first "modern" edition), it's been a fixture ever since 1983, except for in 2005 when it was decided that it was too dangerous and had to be repaired.

Because of the shelter given by the overhanging trees along its length, and because of the underground aquifer that is reputedly very close to the surface, the ground here never seems to fully dry out. Coupled with the subsidence that hundreds of years of mining can cause to the area, this is one of the most unbelievable roads in the world. In recent years there have been a number of serious incidents here that have put its use in jeopardy, most notably in 1998 when Johann Museeuw fell and smashed his kneecap just a week after his dominant third victory in the Tour of Flanders, causing the organisers to run the course from the opposite end so that they wouldn't hit it so fast.

The race hits this secteur at the end of a long straight road out of the picturesque old mining town of Arenberg so they're generally travelling at speeds of up to 60 km/h. On dry days all they have to cope with is the fact that it seems to be surface with randomly sized stones, arranged in an uneven and seemingly random way. If it's wet then the stones will also be glacially slippery. It slopes gently downwards for the first few hundred metres allowing riders to maintain, or even increase their speed, before levelling off and sloping ever so slightly upwards for the remainder of its length. The unevenness of the surface makes this slight gradient seem a thousand times worse.

The surface starts benign enough, apart from the mud, and then crosses the new railway (watch out for trains!) before giving way to an almost completely mud covered surface to pass through the old Pont. Once through here the cobbles return from under the boue as it snakes across some fields next to a small stream. As reflected in its four star rating, there are a lot of uneven patches and sunken areas which will fill with water if there's any rain around at all, so it's a really tough secteur, especially, coming as it does, straight after Arenberg.

Leaving the village of Hornaing it meanders across the fields, past a few houses, and skirts alongside the railway line for a while before turning right and passing beneath the shadow of another of the course's landmarks, the enormous twin water towers that serve the local villages. After passing the towers, there is a short rough asphalt patch, before the cobbles return and it heads straight across to Wandignies - Hamage where it finishes adjacent to a bunch of houses.

Legs are getting tired by now, and along comes another long secteur to punish those who are not on top of their form. The surface is pretty good for the first kilometre and a half or so before deteriorating quite badly for the final part, which features a lot of quite large holes making the ideal line worth fighting for. None of the favourites will be making their move just yet, but there will be a constant trickle of exhausted riders dropping off the back of what will by now be a pretty small front group.