The Hell of the North. The Queen of the Classics. First held in 1896, Paris-Roubaix is without question the hardest, most brutal one-day road race in the world. Starting from Compiègne just north of Paris and heading to Roubaix in northern France, the route tackles a number of cobblestone sectors in the latter half of its roughly 280km distance. The pavé sectors make or break many a riders’ race, most often the latter.
Last year the second half of Boonen's campaign was compromised following a career-threatening second positive test for cocaine, but this season the big Quick Step rider, a world champion in 2005, appears reborn.
Teams announced for 2010 Paris-Roubaix
Anthony Tan sits down with George Hincapie to talk about pre-race rituals, Paris-Roubaix, the Giro, Cadel Evans and his new team.
Filippo Pozzato believes he’s poised to win at least one major classic this spring and he could care less which one it is.
Former Paris-Roubaix winner and Italian national coach Franco Ballerini has died from injuries suffered in a rally car accident on Sunday.
The 108th Paris-Roubaix will be held on April 11th, 2010
Steven Cozza had a front-row seat for his debut at Paris-Roubaix on Sunday. The 24-year-old bolted into the day’s main breakaway and then led the move across the famous Arenberg cobblestone section. Luckily, he wasn’t seriously injured in a late-race crash on a slick corner and was able to finish the race. Things didn’t go as expected for the Garmin-Slipstream crew, who were quietly optimistic Martijn Maaskant would reach the final, top-three podium.
Like many professional racers, Tony Cruz (BMC Racing) has a love-hate relationship with Paris-Roubaix. With Cruz, it’s mostly a love thing with the pavé, the history and the drama of the race, but he hates it that his dreams have been torpedoed by bad luck. Despite starting with high hopes in the team’s Paris-Roubaix debut, mechanical difficulties foiled Cruz’s ambitions Sunday and he was unable to reach the velodrome in what was his sixth Roubaix start of his career.
A few days after Boonen's victory, the photos are still rolling in from Paris-Roubaix. Despite this year's mostly dry conditions, teams were ready with bikes for all conditions. Padded bar tape, oversized tubular tires, box section aluminum rims, and closely matched front chainrings were virtually standard equipment. Other teams took things a step further, using cyclocross bikes, cantilever brakes, bar-top brake levers, and in some cases, custom hybrid road/cyclocross frames. Reporter Andrew Hood and photographer Graham Watson captured a few photos of team bikes just prior to the race.
China's Jin Long made history for his country here on Sunday by competing in arguably the world's toughest one-day classic bike race, the prestigious Paris-Roubaix. Unfortunately for Jin, his pre-race fears of not being able to negotiate the 27 sections of bone-shaking cobblestones peppered throughout the northern French epic came true as he failed to make it to the 100km mark. As a result, Jin did not make it to the finish line in Roubaix's famous outdoor velodrome where Belgian star Tom Boonen triumphed to join the elite club of three-time winners.
Sixteen people were injured, three of them seriously, when a race organizers’ motorbike struck a crowd of spectators during Paris-Roubaix on Sunday. Fire and rescue officials from Lille said 15 victims had to be evacuated, including three in serious condition, including a 4-year-old child. Colonel Bruno Moulart, commander of emergency intervention, said the injured were members of the same family, adding that he did not believe any lives were at risk. The victims were being transported to hospitals in Lille and Valenciennes, according to police.
Defending champion Tom Boonen soloed to victory in a dusty, crash-filled Paris-Roubaix on Sunday as Quick Step, Cervélo TestTeam and Silence-Lotto slugged it out toe to toe over the cobblestone trophy awarded to the victor in the Hell of the North.?? "The race was very hard," said the big Belgian after collecting his third win here, following triumphs in 2005 and 2008. Praising runner-up Filippo Pozzato (Katusha), he added: "This victory for me is the most beautiful because I beat Pozzato, who is a great champion."
Editor's Note: Will Frischkorn is a pro with the Garmin-Slipstream team. He is participating in Paris-Roubaix on Sunday. You can read his previous VeloNews.com columns here.
Fresh from retiring from one of the peloton’s most prolific careers, Erik Zabel is still busy at the races. These days he's working with the young riders at Columbia-Highroad. Mark Cavendish won Milan-San Remo after consulting with Zabel. "That was just amazing," Zabel said of Cavendish's closing sprint, and now the German veteran is officially working with several of the young riders on Columbia. "I'm an advisor for the young riders’ development for the Highroad team," Zabel said at the Tour of Flanders.
The following rosters were provided by ASO, organizers of Paris-Roubaix and updated as of Saturday, April 11.
Only a few riders are capable of winning Sunday’s 107th edition of Paris-Roubaix, and the number of favorites gets even smaller when you consider the strength of their teams. Given that premise, the winner should come from the Columbia-Highroad, Quick Step, Rabobank or Saxo Bank teams. And that means that George Hincapie, Tom Boonen, Stijn Devolder, Juan Antonio Flecha or Fabian Cancellara will be on the top step of the podium in the Roubaix velodrome Sunday evening.
The 259 kilometers between Compiègne and Roubaix are largely flat, but the Hell of the North has never been distinguished by climbs. What sets the so-called Queen of the Classics apart are the 52.9 kilometers of pavé, the often rough cobbles dating back as many as 200 years and carefully maintained by fans, promoters and local governments in northern France.
Sean Kelly once said that “a Paris-Roubaix without rain is not a true Paris-Roubaix.” Although now reporting from the sidelines, the two-time winner of the Hell of the North may get at least some satisfaction on Sunday as forecasts call for a 30-percent chance of scattered showers throughout the day when riders embark on the 259.5-kilometer (161 miles) route from Compiègne to the northern French city of Roubaix.
As the Paris-Roubaix weekend draws near, several teams have announced plans to use special edition frames in the legendary race. German brand Canyon Bicycles, sponsor of Silence-Lotto, has created a “Pavé” version of its Ultimate AL frameset for the team to use. And thanks to a wild-card invitation, the BMC racing team will take the start in Compeigne, with four riders piloting a new carbon-aluminum SLX model, instead of the standard ProMachine SLC01 carbon model.
BMC is one of three American teams invited to this year's Paris-Roubaix. Garmin-Slipstream and Columbia-Highroad are the other teams invited to the April 12 event. "It shows the level of confidence that the race organizations have in our future," team directeur sportif John Lelangue said.
The nasty rain didn’t show up for the 106th Paris-Roubaix, but a superb Tom Boonen sure did. On a Sunday of cool sunshine and favorable winds, the Quick Step team leader took his second Roubaix victory, three years after the first, with an unstoppable sprint over his final breakaway companions Fabian Cancellara (CSC) and Alessandro Ballan (Lampre).
Danish oufit CSC will be fired up to make amends for their debacle on the cobble of the snow-hit Flanders last week when they line up two former champions at Paris-Roubaix this Sunday. CSC goes into the 259.5km cobblestoned classic, known ominously as the 'Hell of the North,' as big favorites having won the past two years through Swiss Fabian Cancellara and Australian Stuart O'Grady. A rare hat-trick of wins is credible, and will be further boosted by their bid to banish the demons of last week's Tour of Flanders where they were decimated by crashes and punctures.
Is this the year? Is this the year that the stars will be aligned for George Hincapie on the cobblestones of Paris-Roubaix? Is this the year that the tall 34-year-old American can follow up his two sixth places, two fourth places and his runner-up spot (of 2005) with another big performance on Sunday? Is this the year he can win?
VeloNews spoke with Rabobank’s Juan Antonio Flecha just a little more that 24 hours after he helped deliver teammate Oscar Freire to his win at the 70th edition of Ghent-Wevelgem.
Paris-Roubaix organisers might be feeling "reassured" after a favorable, midweek preview of the famed cobblestone sectors that will feature prominently on the race. However weather predictions for Sunday could make the world famous one-day classic, known ominously as the 'Hell of the North,' an even less inviting affair for some. The 2008 edition will be held over a total of 259.5 km, from Compiegne to the north of Paris to Roubaix just outside of Lille.[nid:74480]
It’s not often a rider enters the Roubaix velodrome alone, and an Australian has never done it in the 105-year history of cycling’s hardest one-day race. Stuart O’Grady did both Sunday in an emotional and powerful victory to become the first Aussie to win Paris-Roubaix in the hottest “Hell of the North” as far as anyone can remember.
Don’t discount Team CSC’s Stuart O’Grady as a candidate for the win in Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix. The 33-year-old Aussie might not be one of the five-star favorites to win the “Hell of the North,” but he can be a wildcard, behind teammate and defending champ Fabian Cancellara. (VeloNews.com will offer up-to-the-minute live coverage of Paris-Roubaix on Sunday. – Editor) “Stuey” barreled into this year’s classics season in his best form in years. After a string of top-five finishes, O’Grady is intent on snagging his first victory since 2004, when he won a stage at the Tour de France, two at the
Former world champion Tom Boonen will be among the Belgians feeling the weight of expectation going into Sunday’s edition of Paris-Roubaix, arguably the toughest one-day cycling race in the world. The 26-year-old Belgian has already won once at the “Hell of the North,” as the 111-year-old race is known. But given his frustrating run through the Belgian one-day classics this month, Boonen and compatriots Leif Hoste and Peter Van Petegem will be eager to redress the balance. The three are among a handful of contenders — including defending Roubaix champion Fabian Cancellara and Italians
Riders may not thank them for it but organizers of the often-epic Paris-Roubaix spring classic have decided to add another cobbled section to next year's race. The famed classic, also known as the “Hell of the North” and characterized by its multiple crashes and mud-splattered finishers, Paris-Roubaix, held on April 15 next year, is one of the cornerstones of single-day racing. Last year's winner, Fabian Cancellara, deposed Belgian favorite Tom Boonen to lift the fabled cobblestone trophy aloft after seeing some of his rivals snared by a train's level crossing. Next year, the
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Tom Boonen has been riding like an unstoppable freight train all year, and it may have been another freight train that denied him a shot at a successive win in the toughest of all the Spring Classics. The world champion has been knocking off wins (12 so far this year) almost as fast as some of his fans pound down Belgian beers, but the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix on Sunday became a proving ground for another rising star.
It’s the question American George Hincapie has had to answer over and over again in the days leading up to Sunday’s 104th Paris-Roubaix: How do you beat Tom Boonen? "We just have to have as many guys as we can, for as long as we can, and make Quick Step work and not give them a free ride," Hincapie said of his Discovery Channel team’s simple strategy. Hincapie knows what it feels like to come close to winning the Queen of the Classics — his second-place finish to Boonen at last year’s Paris-Roubaix was his top result in a string of five top-10 finishes in five attempts — but he still
Perhaps more than any other world champion, current rainbow jersey holder Tom Boonen most resembles his legendary countryman Rik Van Looy. Van Looy, who was known as the Emperor of Herentals after his hometown, won all of the major one-day classics, including three editions of Paris-Roubaix, which Boonen is attempting to win for a second time this Sunday. Remarkably, Van Looy and Boonen grew up in villages only 30km apart in the flatlands directly east of Antwerp jammed up against the Dutch border. This is not Flanders, the epicenter of Belgian cycling, but a region, once called Brabant,
Belgian Philippe Gilbert won the 61st edition of the Omloop Het Volk on Saturday over 202km between Gent and Lokeren in Belgium. The Française des Jeux rider beat compatriot Bert De Waele of Landbouwkrediet in the opening classic of the season in Belgium, with the Netherlands' Leon Van Bon of Davitamon taking third place. "This is the best victory of my young career," said an overjoyed Gilbert. "It's incredible. This morning I didn't feel 100 percent. I was a little bit ill these last few days but I was very motivated."
The UCI ProTour Council (UPTC) has refused to authorize the Trophy of the Grand Tours proposed by the organizers of the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España. In a press release issued Thursday, the council said the proposal by tour organizers ASO, RCS and Unipublic "does not respect the principles of road-cycling reform as introduced by the UCI," takes a counter-productive financial approach and demonstrates "a lack of responsibility towards cycling as a whole." The UCI insists that the three grand-tour organizers operate within the framework of the ProTour as they did in 2005:
With baby daughter Julia Paris cradled in his arms, a physically and emotionally drained George Hincapie finally stood on the Paris-Roubaix podium he’s doggedly pursued for so many years. Standing one step higher was Tom Boonen, the Belgian bomber who swept to an emotional victory in a three-up sprint that also included Spanish charger Juan Antonio Flecha.
American George Hincapie took a couple of steps closer to realizing a career-long dream on Sunday but the Discovery Channel rider was pipped at the finish line of the grueling Paris-Roubaix one-day classic. Hincapie, who has been a teammate of Lance Armstrong's since the early days of U.S. Postal, has twice come close to winning the race known as the Hell of the North - and twice, in 1999 and 2000, he finished in fourth place. This year the 31-year-old New Yorker grabbed his chance at victory with both hands, getting into the decisive breakaway with all the top contenders with 80km of
Belgian star Tom Boonen will saddle up as a major favorite for Sunday’s 103rd edition of Paris-Roubaix, the rugged one-day classic that could put the charismatic Quick Step rider on the road to emulating former three-time winner Johan Museeuw. Despite his youthful features, Boonen proved in last week's daring win in the Tour of Flanders that he has no qualms about putting some of the world's toughest and more experienced one-day riders to the sword. And a victory in the Roubaix velodrome would send his growing army of fans into an even bigger frenzy. "We saw it last week - age is
LIQUIGAS - BIANCHI1 - BACKSTEDT Magnus SWE2 - ALBASINI Michael SUI3 - GEROSA Mauro ITA4 - LJUNGQVIST Marcus SWE5 - LODA Nicola ITA6 - RIGHETTO Marco ITA7 - SIRONI Gianluca ITA8 - ZANOTTI Marco ITAFASSA BORTOLO11 - CANCELLARA Fabian SUI12 - AUG Andrus EST13 - BALDATO Fabio ITA14 - CHICCHI Francesco ITA15 - CORIONI Claudio ITA16 - FLECHA Juan Antonio ESP17 - ONGARATO Alberto ITA18 - PETITO Roberto ITADAVITAMON - LOTTO21 - VAN PETEGEM Peter BEL22 - DE VOCHT Wim BEL23 - MATTAN Nico BEL24 - ROESEMS Bert BEL25 - STEELS Tom BEL26 - VAN BON Leon NED27 - VIERHOUTEN Aart NED28 - VOGELS Henk AUST-MOBILE
Paris-Roubaix race organizers, forced by a sinkhole to abandon the infamous cobbles of the Arenberg forest, have unearthed a series of tracks that they say will be just as intimidating in Sunday's Hell of the North. Roger de Vlaeminck who outrode Eddy Merckx in a series of mighty battles to chalk up record four wins in the 1970s has warned riders to be ready for a day of pain. “You need to be fairly agile to avoid the bumps and pitfalls but at the end of the day you've just got to accept you're going to take a fall, dust yourself down and get on with it," said the Belgian who
The most demanding, exhausting one-day race of the professional road-racing calendar starts at 11 a.m. Sunday in Compiegne, France, just north of Paris. Indeed, more than 20 percent of the course used for the 103rd Paris-Roubaix hardly qualifies as a “road” at all, in modern terms. Nearly 55km of the 259km route consists of 26 sections of bone-rattling, sometimes dangerously slick cobblestones. Known variously as the “Hell of the North” and the “Queen of the Classics,” Paris-Roubaix is one of the most dramatic events in professional cycling. Partly cloudy skies are forecast for race day,
Citing serious safety concerns, organizers of Paris-Roubaix have removed one of the most revered sections of cobbles from the route of this year’s race. Noting that the condition of a large stretch of pavé through the Forest of Arenberg has degraded over the past year the Amaury Sport Organization has pulled the famous portion of cobbles from this year’s Queen of the Classics, scheduled for April 10. "Organizers have decided not to ride on the 2400 meters of the famous Arenberg trench for safety reasons," ASO noted in a statement. "The condition of the road has seriously deteriorated in
Australian veteran Scott Sunderland couldn't have asked for a better debut on the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix, the third round in the ten-race World Cup on Sunday. Sunderland, at 37 made his debut on the world's toughest one-day cycling race over 261 km - 51 of which were over 26 bike-rattling cobblestones. Afterwards, the Aussie positively gushed with delight as teammate Magnus Backstedt secured an historic victory for Sweden, and for their Italian team Alessio. Backstedt, a 29-year-old sprinter, signaled his intentions with a second place finish behind Tom Boonen in Wednesday's
Magnus Backstedt (Alessio) was as surprised as anyone after realizing a childhood dream by winning the 102nd edition of Paris-Roubaix in a sprint finish on Sunday. The big Swede, 6-foot-3 and just under 200 pounds, outsprinted Tristan Hoffman (CSC) and Roger Hammond (MrBookmaker.com) to win the grueling 261km “Hell of the North.”
During the days preceding Paris-Roubaix, the talk is often of the weather, which, over the years, has often put the hell in the Hell of the North at this one-of-a-kind spring classic. TUNE IN TO VELONEWS.COM beginning at 8 a.m. Eastern time Sunday for our live updates from the 102nd Paris-Roubaix, with on-the-spot assistance from VeloNews editor Kip Mikler, European correspondent Andrew Hood and photographer Graham Watson. If it rains for Sunday’s 102nd running of the race, as it did memorably two years ago, the 26 cobblestone sections of the 261km route will become the enemy of the 184
| LOTTO - DOMO 1. Peter Van Petegem (B) 2. Hans De Clercq (B) 3. Leif Hoste (B) 4. Thierry Marichal (B) 5. Gert Steegmans (B) 6. Leon Van Bon (Nl) 7. Wim Vansevenant (B) 8. Aart Vierhouten (Nl) T-MOBILE TEAM 21. Steffen Wesemann (G) 22. Rolf Aldag (G) 23. Eric Baumann (G) 24. Serguei Ivanov (Rus) 25. Andreas Klier (G) 26. Daniele Nardello (I) 27. Jan Schaffrath (G) 28. Stephan Schreck (G) RABOBANK Van Petegem wins Paris-RoubaixPeter Van Petegem proved that his fortitude is harder than the cobbles of northern France in a dramatic victory in Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix. Van Petegem (Lotto-Domo) had better luck than most in a day dominated with crashes and punctures and becomes the first rider to win the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix in the same year since Roger de Vlaeminck in 1977. Dario Pieri (Saeco) earned a well-deserved second-place while Viatcheslav Ekimov scored the second consecutive third-place podium finish for the U.S. Postal Service team in cycling’s "Hell of the North." Start List – Paris-Roubaix 2003Quick Step1. Museeuw (B)2. Boonen (B)3. Bramati (I)4. Cretskens (B)5. Kashechkin (Kz)6. Knaven (Nl)7. Tankink (Nl)8. Vandenbroucke (B)Telekom11. Zabel (G)12. Aldag (G)13. Hundertmarck (G)14. Klier (G)15. Kopp (G)16. Nardello (I)17. Schaffrath (G)18. Schumacher (G)Saeco21. Pieri (I)22. Bonomi (I)23. Commesso (I)24. Fornaciari (I)25. Ludewig (G)26. Pepoli (I)27. Quaranta (I)28. Zanini (I)Fassa Bortolo31. Cancellara (Swi)32. S. Ivanov (Rus)33. Kirchen (Lux)34. Larsson (S)35. Loda (I)36. Petito (I)37. Trenti (USA)38. Zanotti (I)fdjeux.com41. Guesdon (F)42. Casper (F)43. Derepas (F)44. Durand Previous winners of Paris-RoubaixThe 1890s1896 Josef Fischer (G) 280km&Nbsp; (30.162kph)1897 Maurice Garin (F) 280km (28.124kph)1898 Maurice Garin (F) 268km (32.599kph)1899 Albert Champion (F) 268km (31.976kph)The 1900s1900 Emile Bouhours (F) 268km (37.352kph)1901 Lucien Lesna (F) 280km (25.861kph)1902 Lucien Lesna (F) 268km (28.088kph)1903 Hippolyte Aucouturier (F) 268km (29.104kph)1904 Hippolyte Aucouturier (F) 268km (32.518kph)1905 Louis TROUSSELIER (F) 268km (33.206kph)1906 Henri CORNET (F) 270km (27.034kph)1907 Georges PASSERIEU (F) 270km (30.971kph)1908 Cyrille VAN HAUWAERT (B) 271km (25.63kph)1909 Octave LAPIZE (F) The cobbles of Paris-RoubaixThe Cobbles of Paris-Roubaix, 2003 - Total= 49.100 kmSection 26 Km 99.8 TROISVILLES Rue de la Sucrerie2200 metersSection 25 Km 106.3 VIESLY - Rue de la Chapelle1800 metersSection 24 Km 108.5 QUIEVY - Rue de Valenciennes3700 metersSection 23 Km 113.7 QUIEVY à SAINT-PYTHON1500 metersSection 22 Km 121.9 HAUSSY 900 metersSection 21 Km 128.6 SAULZOIR 1200 metersSection 20 Km 132.9 VERCHAIN-MAUGRE à QUERENAING1600 metersSection 19 Km 136.0 MAING 2500 metersSection 18 Km 139.2 MONCHAUX SUR ECAILLON 1600 metersSection 17 Km 145.8 HASPRES 1700 metersSection 16 Km 158.3 HAVELUY 2500 metersSection 15 Km Paris-Roubaix: Museeuw aims for a repeatFor many European road teams, a win at a major spring classic can go a long way toward calling the season a success. With Peter Van Petegem’s win at the Tour of Flanders last Sunday, his Lotto-Domo squad, beloved by their Belgian fans, has one feather in its cap already. And Telekom had a pleasant surprise when its 27-year-old German Andreas Klier stole a win at Ghent-Wevelgem Wednesday. But two days before the 101st running of Paris-Roubaix, arguably the most prestigious race of all the spring classics, one team is growing restless for a win: Quick Step-Davitamon. Stacked with talent, the PARIS-ROUBAIX: Museeuw outfoxes ’em allNothing, it seems, can stop Johan Museeuw. Four years ago, a crash on the wicked cobblestones of the Arenberg Forest in northern France threatened to end his career when gangrene almost took over a gash in his leg, nearly leading to amputation. The "Lion of Flanders" overcame that setback to win Roubaix in 2000, only to go down to injury again when he crashed on his motorcycle. PARIS-ROUBAIX: Museeuw joins the greatsJohan Museeuw is one of the most modest men you could ever meet. There's nothing flashy about this 36-year-old Belgian, who still lives modestly in the little town of Gistel, in deepest Flanders, despite his fame and continued success. By winning the epic 100th edition of Paris-Roubaix on Sunday, Museeuw won the 10th World Cup classic in a career that already spans 15 years -- and total adulation from his bike-crazy country. His latest victory placed him alongside three other cycling legends — Rik Van Looy, Eddy Merckx and Francesco Moser — who also won this Queen of the Classics three Paris-Roubaix: Getting ready for HellTeam mechanics were busy in Compiègne Saturday as they prepared each of their squad's bikes for Sunday's 100th edition of Paris-Roubaix. The most common modifications for tackling the French classic's giant cobblestones are a bigger inner chainring than normal (a 44 or 45 in lieu of a 39); wider, tougher tires (up to 25mm, and the majority appear to be clinchers); and slightly padded handlebar tape instead of the normal thinner variety. Other similarities aimed at making the bike less rigid are the use of titanium or aluminum tubing (with narrower gauges and thicker wall thicknesses than Paris-Roubaix 2002:Start list (as of Saturday 8:00p.m)DOMO-FARM FRITES001 KNAVEN Servais (Nl)002 CASSANI Enrico (I)003 CRETSKENS Wilfried (B)004 KOERTS Jans (Nl)005 MILESI Marco (I)006 MUSEEUW Johan (B)007 RODRIGUEZ Fred (USA)008 VAN HEESWIJK Max (Nl)MAPEI -QUICK STEP011 TAFI Andrea (I)012 BODROGI Laszlo (Hun)013 DE WAELE Fabien (B)014 FORNACIARI Paolo (I)015 HORILLO Pedro (Sp)016 HUNTER Robert (SA)017 NARDELLO Daniele (I)018 ZANINI Stefano (I)LAMPRE-DAIKIN 021 DIERCKXSENS Ludo (B)022 BERTOGLIATI Rubens (Swi)023 LODDO Alberto (I)024 PAGLIARNI Luciano (Bra)025 SCIANDRI Maximilian (GB)026 SERPELLINI Marco (I)027 SPRUCH Zbigniew (Pol)028 VERSTREPEN Paris-Roubaix: Dust, wind and destructionA cold north wind was howling across the open fields of northernFrance Friday afternoon; but there was no sign of rain. That probably meansthat riders in Sunday's 100th edition of Paris-Roubaix will most likelyhave to face stinging dust blown in their faces rather than the gooey mudthrown up by the wheels in front of them. Either way, the infamous Hellof the North classic is bound to create its usual toll of terror and destruction.In fact, the course that the 190-or-so starters will face is probablythe hardest that the organizers have ever mapped out. Last year, they "discovered" three nasty Paris-Roubaix 2002: The prize list(Exchange rate as of April 12, 2002: 1€ = $0.87)1st - 30000 €2nd - 22000 €3rd - 15000 €4th - 7500 €5th - 3000 €6th - 1600 €7th - 1320 €8th - 1250 €9th - 1120 €10th - 1050 €11th - 920 €12th - 785 €13th - 650 €14th - 585 €15th - 385 €16th - 335 €17th - 335 €18th - 335 €19th - 335 €20th - 335 €21st - 270 €22nd - 270 €23rd - 270 €24th - 270 €25th - 270 € Paris-Roubaix 2002: The pavéKm 99.8 - TROISVILLES | rue de la Sucrerie - 2200 metersKm 106.3 - VIESLY | rue de la Chapelle - 1800 metersKm 108.5 - QUIEVY | rue de Valenciennes - 3700 metersKm 113.7 - QUIEVY à SAINT-PYTHON - 1500 metersKm 121.9 - HAUSSY - 900 metersKm 128.6 - SAULZOIR - 1200 metersKm 132.9 - VERCHAIN-MAUGRE à QUERENAING - 1600metersKm 136.0 - MAING - 2500 metersKm 139.2 - MONCHAUX SUR ECAILLON - 1600 metersKm 145.8 - HASPRES - 1700 metersKm 158.3 - HAVELUY - 2500 metersKm 166.5 - FORET D'ARENBERG | Drèves des Boules d'Herin- 2400 metersKm 173.2 - WALLERS - 1000 metersKm 179.5 - HORNAING à Paris-Roubaix: Past winners1896 J. FISCHER (GER) 1897 M. GARIN (FRA) 1898 M. GARIN (FRA) 1899 A. CHAMPION (FRA) 1900 E. BOUHOURS (FRA) 1901 L. LESNA (FRA) 1902 L. LESNA (FRA) 1903 H. AUCOUTURIER (FRA) 1904 H. AUCOUTURIER (FRA) 1905 L. TROUSSELIER (FRA) 1906 H. CORNET (FRA) 1907 G. PASSERIEU (FRA) 1908 C. VAN HAUWAERT (BEL) 1909 O. LAPIZE (FRA) 1910 O. LAPIZE (FRA) 1911 O. LAPIZE (FRA) 1912 C. CRUPELANDT (FRA) 1913 F. FABER (LUX) 1914 C. CRUPELANDT (FRA)Cancelled due to World War I 1919 H. PELISSIER (FRA) 1920 P. DEMAN (BEL) 1921 H. PELISSIER (FRA) 1922 A. DEJONGHE My dinner with George: A coach’s chat after Paris-RoubaixJust a few hours after finishing Paris-Roubaix, George and I met for dinner. We talked about the day, about the season, and about the future. All in all, George is happy. He knows he can win Paris-Roubaix, and that the best years are still to come. Everything was going great up until the Arenberg Forest. George made a good move and said he was having no real problems finding a good line. He was leaving people behind and making it look easy. When the front tire punctured, controlling the bike was almost impossible. Johan Bruyneel told him on the radio that there were wheels waiting at the Paris-Roubaix Updates: Domo scores 1-2-3This report filed at 12:06 p.m. Eastern: Domo-Farm Frites finshed 1-2-3 at today’s Paris-Roubaix. Servais Knaven won, then teammate Johan Museeuw jumped away with one kilometer to go and finished second, and then Romans Vainsteins, the world champion, outsprinted U.S. Postal’s George Hincapie for third place. Hincapie’s fourth place is the same spot he earned here two years ago. Vainsteins now has taken the lead of the UCI men’s World Cup. Domo’s Wilfried Peeters finished fifth, and Telekom’s Steffen Wesemann finished sixth. After the finish, Hincapie said: "There was nothing I Behind the scenes at Paris-Roubaix: To a grinding haltWhen the Crédit Agricole team’s Jérome Neuville crashed on the cobblestones at Quievy, 110km into the Hell of the North, he could not have known how close he was to becoming a human pancake. But as the bright yellow Mavic neutral service car slid toward the Frenchman’s prostrate body, the fear in his eyes registered the danger. That was the last we saw of him from inside the car, as driver Antonio Pacheco swerved to the right to avoid Neuville’s legs sprawled across the road. We hit something, and hard, but we could not tell if it was only his bike or if we had hit him as well. We jumped Hincapie’s ready for Paris-Roubaix, according to coachWednesday morning, a spring snow storm hit Colorado Springs. I managed to get to the airport, but soon learned that my departure for France would be delayed until Thursday. When I arrived back at the office, the entire staff was silently huddled around one computer. I peered over their shoulders to see live images of the final kilometer of Ghent-Wevelgem. Thank you, Mother Nature, for closing the airport George Hincapie is the strongest I have ever seen him. His power outputs are the highest they have ever been and his ability to maintain intense efforts is great. His strong performances Rain falls on the night before Paris-RoubaixSaturday’s Paris forecast called for early rain and gradual clearing. It seems the French weather experts can’t guess any better than their North American counterparts. The day was dry – until about 7 p.m. (local time) when a steady rain began to fall, with temperatures hanging around 50 degrees. Riders will likely go to sleep tonight listening to the rain, and roll to tomorrow’s start line of the 99th Paris-Roubaix with temperatures in the 30s. Sunday’s start, slated for 11 a.m. (5 a.m. Eastern), will see 248 riders from 25 squads contest the 254-kilometer route. Check back tomorrow, Hincapie’s focus turns to Paris-RoubaixGeorge Hincapie scored a huge victory on Wednesday, becoming the first American to win Ghent-Wevelgem and the first American to win a European classic since Lance Armstrong won Fleche Wallonne in 1996. But now Hincapie turns his attention to his biggest personal objective of the season, Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix. "It gives me good confidence," Hincapie said about his win in Wevelgem. "I knew I was riding well. Obviously I’m going to be more marked now, because I’ll be one of the favorites. But it’s a good confidence booster for Sunday." And despite the hoopla surrounding his win, Hincapie Epic Paris-Roubaix predictedThe organizers of Paris-Roubaix are constantly looking for ways of making their cobblestone classic a little more challenging. And the course for the 99th edition this Sunday looks to be the most challenging yet -- both from the perspective of its rugged route and the expected weather conditions: cold, wet and windy. From the start outside Napoleon's former palace in the town of Compiëgne -- 80km northeast of Paris -- the opening two hours of the race are on smooth, straight, rolling roads through Noyon, Ham and St. Quentin. With a forecast for west wind, the field of 190-or-so riders |