A breakdown of Hell: The pavé of Paris-Roubaix

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Tilloy à Sars-et- Rosières is fairly long(Image credit: Ben Atkins)

Tales from the (cobbled) peloton, April 14, 2007 - Page 2 of 2

Another fairly long secteur, only just over a kilometre after the last one, thankfully though, for those starting to suffer, it's pretty smooth and almost completely flat. Shaped like a massive letter 'L' the course heads across to the middle of some fields before turning ninety degrees and makes for the small village of Sars-et-Rosières where once again civilisation returns and riders can rest in the knowledge that they have a whole four kilometres to prepare for the next ordeal.

This secteur is actually divided into two parts; the Chemin des Prières, and the very aptly named Chemin des Abattoirs. The first part runs in a mostly easterly direction until it turns to asphalt at a small group of houses - and a large bar. It then turns left ninety degrees to take a northerly path. The beginning of the secteur is quite muddy, but the surface is, for the most part pretty good, except for the last few hundred metres where the cobbles become quite broken up.

Shortened to just 1.2 km (it was previously 2.6 km) due to the second half of the previously used secteur being proclaimed unusable (don't worry, the missing 1.4 km have been replaced by the new Secteur 13 - above!), what remains is still no laughing matter. Despite being pretty smooth, almost the entire secteur is a false flat rising gently nearly all the way so it will again test the resolve of those who aren't feeling too strong. We're now at over 200 km, which is the point where a semi-classic would end, it's this point that sorts the men from the boys!

This secteur was reintroduced for the 2006 race after a gap of a few years and had an immediate impact. The second of only three five star rated secteurs, this was the point where George Hincapie's steerer tube snapped, causing him to crash and badly injure his shoulder, costing him not only a result in that race, but his entire spring campaign. Mons-en-Pévèle was also where this correspondent spent a day as a convict of the road with les Amis de Paris Roubaix, clearing the surface of the worst of the mud and water - I can assure you that these two incidents are not linked in any way!

It begins with a slight uphill part before descending gently for a kilometre or so whereon it turns left ninety degrees and continues straight until it joins the main road just north of Mons. The surface is very uneven, particularly in the early part where the Hincapie incident occurred. After the left hand bend, the cobbles are much more plat (flat) as they would say in this area, but still pretty heavy going.

Another completely flat secteur, so soon after the previous one. This one zigzags across the fields between the two villages without ever becoming too challenging to fresh legs, but tired ones will start to feel it on the last few hundred metres where the hitherto good surface deteriorates and the crown of the road becomes the only vaguely smooth line. This last part is where the big assertive riders will be making their presence felt as lesser and less confident riders will be forced to ride in the wheel tracks at the side - a much harder route.

Like the previous secteur, this is two in one. Unlike the previous secteur, this one is a serious challenge. The course leaves the town of Cysoing and joins the fairly well surfaced pavé. This smooth start may lure the unwary into a false sense of security, because after a few hundred metres the surface goes from cobbled road to rock garden in the space of a few turns of the crank. It does improve before the end, but never gets really good again.

A few kilometres on from the last secteur, across the TGV (Train Grand Vitesse) line - the building of which has been responsible for the loss of so much of the local pavé - the course takes a sharp left-hand corner and the secteur starts immediately. The secteur is almost completely flat as it passes between farm buildings - flanked by thousands of passionately drunken Belgian fans - and heads out into the fields. After almost a kilometre the course takes a sharp right hand turn and makes its way across to the village of Camphin.

Not one of the longest secteurs, but the vagaries of the surface mean that it earns four stars. Parts of it are very well surfaced, but others are broken up really badly by the regular farm vehicles that use it. Unlike other badly surfaced parts of the course, this doesn't really have a smooth line, so powerful riders do well here and anyone still with the front group who isn't as strong as the others may start to fade.

Along with the Trouée d'Arenberg, this secteur sums up what this race is all about. Starting fairly anonymously behind a group of farm buildings the track winds its way alongside a wood before pitching into the open and heading almost dead straight across the fields. With almost a kilometre to go it turns left ninety degrees and heads directly towards the point that gives it its name; the Arbre Junction. This, quite simply is a junction of roads which has a bar on it called l'Arbre (the tree). In the days when the race was less fashionable, this bar used to only open one day a year, a requirement to keep its licence, but nowadays it's a thriving bar and restaurant, keen to associate itself with the chaos that passes its door each April.

Over the last few years this secteur has proved decisive for some. Last year it was the point where Fabian Cancellara's power finally broke the resolve of Vladimir Gusev, and the year before it was where defending champion Magnus Backstedt found that he couldn't hold onto the accelerations of Tom Boonen much longer. This is the last difficult part of the course, so someone will always try something.

The last real cobbles of the race are not much of a challenge. The secteur snakes its way towards the town of Hem in an uneven and irregular manner, but because of its regular use by regular traffic the road has been widened at the sides with asphalt. Thanks to this, and despite the fact that it is badly broken up in places, riders tend to hop from one side of the road to the other, avoiding the worst of the pavé. If this were not possible then it surely would be given a higher rating than one star.

This last secteur, which ends just at the entrance to the famous old velodrome, is really there as a monument to the race, as well as one last little buzz to remind them of what they've just covered over the preceding kilometres, and to let them know that their day of toil is almost at an end. There's no chance to attack here really, riders who ride together will be watching each other like hawks as they approach the track, riders who arrive here alone will try and savour the moment.