The 2023 edition of Paris-Roubaix follows a brutal 257km parcours, featuring 29 bone-shaking cobbled sectors, not least the 5-star rated Trouée d’Arenberg, Mons-en-Pévele and Carrefour de l’Arbre. Far rougher than those found in Flanders, these pavés make the “Hell of the North” the toughest one-day race on the pro calendar. Who will claim a historic victory in this truly iconic Monument?

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    An Easter Cobblestone hunt in France was the 120th edition of Paris the hell of the north beginning on the cobbles of compiano on flash General de Gaulle where somebody was hoping to start on the cobbles and finish on the podium the new tech was on show 175 Cobble

    Gobblers lined up from 25 different teams some more favorites than others everybody though daring to dream A mid-morning start and the 120th edition of a Sunday in hell was 256.6 kilometers long heading to troyville the gates To Hell 96 kilometers on normal roads before they got there once on the cobbles three headline moments in the race Aaron bergenic’s trench Monson Pavel and

    Carfold before one and a half laps of the velodrome to finish things off on the old concrete track each Cobblestone sector as always rated from one to five stars one being the easiest although none are easy five being the most difficult a hellish undertaking with just under 55

    K’s of cobbles to take on and it took a long time before any Breakaway was formed in fact just over 10 kilometers before we got to the first sector of cobbles a minute and a half was roughly the highest Gap that the Breakaway had Derek Jesus your box Yuri

    Holman and Jonas were there as the crashes carried on behind and Peter Sagan crashed out for the second week running two final appearances in Cobble monuments to dnfs and trips to the hospital kilometers to go the real party started yombo visma anticipating just about everybody matchup on a ball was wise to

    It as was Stefan Kung in there as well as fanart and laportecht going into the famous Arenberg trench there were problems and heartbreak for Derek G on debuted made it up there he suffered a mechanical and would not be seen again in the meantime crashes behind for the defending

    Champion Dylan from Bala and kisper Oscar and former winner of the Rhonda of landra will also go out Mars pitherson would set off in support and then Christoph Laporte would suffer a mechanical valshine would get there ganner as well and suddenly 13 Riders were on their way to the front of the race

    Nabort would try and work to get back on the 13 at the front will gradually be whittled down Shield box losing contact would restart the chase he’d try and get back with Florian Vermeer she’ll form a second place finisher and La Porte matchup on a pole would attack attack and continue to attack

    50ks to go when he launched this move but for not was quick across and the rest would soon follow but to the front he’d go again this time [Applause] max volume struggling to hold on and even off the end of the big sector of cobbles the five-star one

    Thunder Paul would once more try to be aggressive next time they came to five stars it would be carfould the final big test before the velodrome itself are coming together didn’t call down Hearts broken the 2015 winner looking for Cobblestone number two Down and Out For the Win he’d

    Be back on his bike as well for not and that you have found a pool we’re at the front of the race but with 15 and a half kilometers remaining we’ll not be losing the wheel he’d also be losing the air in his back tire a puncture effectively ending his chances of

    Winning the race and seeing Thunder pool right away solo was out in the front and tried to stay there he’d be taking risks though fanart set off in search of his big rival but that big rival was able to keep it upright even though the wrists were being taken

    On the way to the velodrome there was a final attempt to try and Shake Jasper Phillips and in that velodrome at the end of what was to be the fastest ever party matchup on a pool arrived alone [Applause] he finally realized what he’d done and becoming just the fourth rider in

    History to win and Milano sarimo in the same season [Applause] final Victorious and it’ll be a first 1-2 for a team in Paris Bay for 22 long years not since the days of Domo Farm fruits that occurred but Al Pacino elegant as they were known on the day

    Put in an aggressive performance that saw Phillips have finished second with what fanart denied any sort of luck having to settle for third place Big celebrations for Father Paul first in San Remo second in the Ronda first again in Hubei his third different Monument fourth in total he’s the man with the best percentage of top 10 finishes of any Rider who has ever ridden a monument it’s a win though here

    Phillips II for not third with Peterson and Kung in the top five Ghana and Degen korb with a heartbreaking seventh as matcha thunderpool became the second Dutchman in as many seasons to lift the famous cobblestone in the old Ruby velodrome the cobbled classics come to an end

    But there’s plenty more bike riding to come on the home of cycling join us as we look ahead to the general Italia before that yes and it’s all on Discovery plus and gcn plus

    47 Comments

    1. Those cobbles stones are really putting up a wall of challenges and destroying many teams plan and position. This terrain really live up to its tittle.

    2. the big spring classics, famed cobbles (cant be any weak hernia types for such missions), the lance apestrongs of the sports, clips of the video the boys look to be going pretty dam fast furious furious fast

    3. if i recall right, decades ago, hasn't it been called hell of the north, and some inspire to hell of the west, a big race near or on the rockies ages ago, some inspire to the great much desired bike movie american flyers

    4. Many years ago I took a ride from Ostend to Haarlem (north of Amsterdam). Camping gear added extra weigh to my Cannondale CAD3 frame. The cobbled sections were horrible and I hated them with a passion. Hats to these guys.

    5. boy the action on carfolle de l-abre (sorry about the spelling) was so disappointing this year. Degenkolb got screwed, and WVA got the flat, and we lost an interesting finish

    6. Alpecin should have been disqualified for bashing into Degenkolb. There was no space for VDP to dive in to. If Wout doesn't have a flat tire he would have won the sprint like in E3 by going from far. Ok VDP did not steal this win but Wout should have won…

    7. A lot of comments about the crash, but none about WVA attacking just after it happens when everyone behind had had to slow. MVDP had to put in a huge effort to get back to WVA. Although the incident itself was the fault of all three riders, I'm still of the opinion you don't attack when there's a crash. The fact that WVA went on to puncture following this move could be seen as karma.

    8. If only the riders were still on rim brake bikes & QR wheels, the race could have been very different.
      The 40 & 50second wheel changes, sometimes complete bike changes, could have been 5second wheel changes.

    9. Such a bad ending to a fantastic race… Would have been so great to see WvA and MvdP battle it out in the velodrome. Now after the race the consensus seems to be that MvdP was the stronger of the two, but I don't agree at all. People seem to forget that it was Laporte and WvA who started it all on the sector before Arenberg and that WvA was in a dream situation then with MvdP (and all other favourites) isolated and with a strong Laporte at his side. Then luck turns as Laporte has a puncture and suddenly MvdP sits with two guys and WvA is all by himself. This of course puts MvdP in a much more favourable position and with WvA with few cards to play. MvdP has the stronger punch and has two guys at his side, so they can now setup the powerful attacks from MvdP. An isolated WvA's only possibility is to use his big motor and go with MvdP betting on himself taking the win in the 1v1 sprint.
      I seem them as equals on the day and I think the sprint in the velodrome would have been 50/50, which would have been so beautiful – the two best classics riders of this generation battling it out for the biggest win of them all.

    10. OMG! Those cobbles are so brutal and unforgiving! One little slip and you're a goner… 😧😧
      Sympathies to all those who couldn't finish.
      MVDP was a BEAST! 😁👍
      M 🦘🏏😎

    11. Sad to see a flat tire end this race, WVA on this flat of a finish was going to light it up. Soon as that happened it was time to start cooking breakfast here in the US. Eggs anyone?

    12. The Degenkolb incident reminds me a lot of the Groenewegen incident. Both Dutch riders, both only interested in victory for themselves at ANY cost, running another rider off the road. Well, congratulations Matheiu, you won.

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