The 2014 edition of Paris-Roubaix is 257km long and takes the riders from Compiègne to Roubaix. Along the way they’ll face 28 cobbled sectors of varying degrees of brutality, for a total of 51 cobbled kilometres.
It’s unsurprising that reigning champion Fabian Cancellara (Trek) goes into the race as hot favourite having won last weekend’s Tour of Flanders for the second year in a row. He’ll be hoping he can do the Flanders/Roubaix double again, for a record third time in his career.
And while some are saying it’s Cancellara’s race to lose, there’s no such thing as a certainty in bike racing, particularly when you’re talking about a cobbled epic like Paris-Roubaix; a race in which so much can go wrong so quickly.
Be sure to tune in to Eurosport (Foxtel channel 511) from 9.15pm (AEST) or SBS TV from 9.30pm (AEST) on Sunday to catch the race live. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the following images.
Click here to read a more detailed preview of the 2014 Paris-Roubaix. This post is an updated version of a post we published this time last year.
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- Roger De Vlaeminck is one of only two riders to have won Paris-Roubaix four times, in 1972, 1974, 1975 and 1977 (Tom Boonen is the other).
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- Eddy Merckx won Paris-Roubaix on three occasions, in 1968, 1970 and 1973. Here is Merckx after a flat tyre during the 74th edition of the race, in 1976.
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- Bernard Hinault wins the 1981 Paris-Roubaix ahead of Roger de Vlaeminck and Francesco Moser. After winning the race Hinault famously said “Paris-Roubaix est une connerie” (Paris–Roubaix is bullshit).
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- “A Paris–Roubaix without rain is not a true Paris–Roubaix. Throw in a little snow as well, it’s not serious.” - Sean Kelly
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- Sean Kelly on his way to winning the 1984 Paris-Roubaix.
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- Sean Kelly won Paris-Roubaix twice, in 1984 (pictured here) and in 1986. Kelly’s total of nine Monument victories makes him one of the most successful Classics rides in history.
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- Adrie van Houwelingen and Phil Anderson sport some terrific caps in an early-1980s edition of the race.
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- The 1987 Paris-Roubaix is considered by many to have been one of the most grueling editions ever. On this day, only 47 of 192 starters made it to the finish, with 25-year-old Eric Vanderaerden finishing at the top of the podium. Instead of finishing in the Roubaix Velodrome, the 1987 edition finished on the Avenue des Nations-Unies.
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- Mario Cippolini stomps through the dust in the mid-90s.
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- Mapei go one-two-three at the 1998 Paris-Roubaix with Andrea Tafi (left, second place) Franco Ballerini (center, winner) and Wilfried Peeters (right, third place).
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- Andrea Tafi battles the cobbles and the dust en route to victory in 1999.
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- In 2001 French rider Philippe Gaumon broke his femur after falling at the start of the Trouée while leading the peloton.
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- An exhausted Servais Knaven moments after winning the 2001 Paris-Roubaix.
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- One of the great Paris-Roubaix traditions: using the showers of the old velodrome in Roubaix post-race.
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- Peter van Petegem soaks himself in 2001. He would go on to win the race in 2003.
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- Jens Voigt (left) and George Hincapie (right) are in need of a shower.
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- A mud-encrusted George Hincapie leads the bunch in the 2002 Paris-Roubaix.
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- Johan Museuuw in 2002 on his way to winning a third Paris-Roubaix.
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- Left: Sector 9, Orchies. Top right: Arenberg Forest in 2007. Bottom right: Stephano Zanini, Max van Heeswijk and Andrea Tafi shut down the race for Johan Museeuw.
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- Left: Johan Museeuw winning his second Paris Roubaix in 2000. He pointed to his knee as he crossed the finish line — a knee he broke two years earlier in a crash that almost ended his career thanks to an infection. Right: Matt Hayman after the 2008 Paris Roubaix.
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- Peter van Petegem celebrates after winning the 2003 Paris-Roubaix ahead of Dario Pieri. Van Petegem now sells insurance in a small town near Gent, close to the Koppenberg.
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- A crash sends a handful of riders into the mud during the 2005 Paris-Roubaix.
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- Tom Boonen holds aloft the first of his four cobblestone trophies from Paris-Roubaix.
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- George Hincapie sits by the roadside in 2006 after his steerer tube broke and he fell off, injuring his collarbone. It was Hincapie’s race to win that year, but if he didn’t have bad luck, he’d have no luck at all …
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- In 2007 Stuart O’Grady became the first and so far only Australian to win Paris-Roubaix. When Stuey came home at the end of that season, he brought that cobbled trophy to Cafe Racer and passed it around. Grown men wept …
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- Fabian Cancellara grits his teeth on the Carrefour de l’Arbre on his way to winning a second Paris-Roubaix, this one in 2010.
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- Johan Van Summeren ploughs through a dusty cobbled sector before going on to win the 2011 Paris-Roubaix.
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- Niki Terpstra hangs on for dear life as Tom Boonen kicks on the afterburners in the 2012 Paris-Roubaix. Terpstra would soon be dropped and Boonen would go on to ride solo for more than 50km, winning his fourth Paris-Roubaix by roughly 90 seconds.
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- Fabian Cancellara won his third Paris-Roubaix in 2013 from a two-up sprint against Sep Vanmarcke (the three riders on the left still have a lap to go). Cancellara and Vanmarcke had ridden into the Roubaix Velodrome together and while Cancellara was leading in the early part of the lap, Vanmarcke was forced to the front by some clever riding by Cancellara. Vanmarcke started his sprint first but Cancellara caught on to the Belgian’s wheel, then pushed past for an hard-fought win.