27 sectors of pavé in this year's Hell of the North
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Vincenzo Nibali puts time into all his rivals on the cobbles at the Tour(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Fabain Cancellara at the front of the peloton during Paris-Roubaix(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Niki Terpstra with the 2014 Paris-Roubaix Cobble(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Stage four will include seven secotrs of cobbles (Image credit: ASO)
ASO has announced that this year's Paris-Roubaix will include 27 sectors of cobbles, including three of the seven sectors that will be covered during the fourth stage of the Tour de France in July.
This year's Hell of the North will be held on Sunday April 12. As per tradition, the race will start in Compiègne, north-east of Paris and end on the outdoor Roubaix velodrome.
ASO confirmed that the 2015 Paris-Roubaix route will include over 50km of cobbles during the 253km race. The changes concern the section around Valenciennes, located at the half-way point of the race and more particularly just after the first sector at Troisvilles (after 97.5 km). The three new sectors for 2015 are at Quiévy (after 107.5 km, 3700m long), Saint-Python (after 112.5 km,1500m) and Verchain-Maugré (after 130km, 1600m).
The legendary Forest of Arenberg comes just after, at the 158km mark, with ASO also confirming the presence of the selective Mons-en-Pévèle (205km) and Carrefour de l'Arbre (236.5km) sectors.
The 221km fourth stage of the Tour de France on July 7 will take the peloton from Seraing in Belgium to Cambrai in France. The stage includes seven sectors of pavé for a total of 13km.
Last year, Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) gained two minutes on his overall rivals with an impressive ride on the cobbles, while Chris Froome (Team Sky) crashed out of the Tour de France before even reaching the pavé.
Nibali, Froome and Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) are set to clash again at this year's Tour de France, with Nairo Quintana (Movistar) another favourite for overall victory. The Colombian climber has already said he will ride the Dwars door Vlaanderen and E3 Harelbeke races in Belgium to get a taste of racing on the cobbles.
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Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) is set to take on the cobbled-Classics specialists such as Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) and Tom Boonen (Etixx-Quick-Step) in his final major race with Team Sky. Nikki Terpstra (Etixx-Quick-Step) won the 2014 edition of Paris-Roubaix.
