Paris-Roubaix is not just a race: it is the Hell of the North, suspended between legend, stones and giants. Today a new, epic edition of the Roubaix will depart from Compiègne, officially renamed Paris-Roubaix Hauts-de-France. After 258.3 kilometers of battle, the finish line will be, as always, at the historic André Petrieux Velodrome in Roubaix, the stage of some of the most legendary pages in cycling history.

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The race builds progressively, as the kilometers increase and dust enters the eyes and nostrils of the riders. The first 95.8 kilometers run on asphalt, a sort of truce before the storm. Then the first stones appear: the three-star sector of Troisvilles-Inchy, the first of the 30 planned (they are numbered in reverse, down to the 1 in Roubaix) and the severe four-star one of Quiévy, the longest (3,700 meters) of the race along with that of Hornaing. But it is towards the Arenberg Forest that the heart begins to beat faster. It is tackled 95 kilometers from the finish and its 2,300 meters of brutal cobblestones are synonymous with chaos, crashes and shattered dreams. For safety reasons, the organizers have introduced a variant approach with four sharp turns near the Arenberg mining site, to slow the group before entering the forest.

After Arenberg, 18 more cobbled sectors remain, including two five-star ones: Mons-en-Pévèle, about 50 km from the finish, and above all the mythical Carrefour de l'Arbre, 17 km from the line. It is often here that the fate of the race is written. Although, more than individual sections, it is their succession that wears down the legs and the soul.

After passing the Carrefour, Gruson, Hem and Roubaix still remain. Then the entrance to the Velodrome: over 500 meters from the finish line you enter to complete one and a half laps of the track (the ring measures 333 meters). When the bell rings for the final lap, you enter a unique dimension, which just watching it live takes your breath away and paralyzes your movements. Then comes the cry of victory, it is that moment you wait for an entire year: to know the name of the winner, who in their exultation will deliver themselves to eternity.