I talk with Chris Horner about what makes the Paris-Roubaix cycling race so cool – the Queen of the Classics, l’Enfer du Nord, the Hell of the North. We breakdown the lore, talk key sectors of cobbles like the Arenberg trench, and Carrefour de l’Arbre, the finish on the track at the Roubaix velodrome, and those iconic showers, and of course the favorites for this weekend’s race.
Click Play to watch our video interview below:
• See Chris Horner’s excellent race analysis on Youtube here:
• See all the Paris-Roubaix previews and full race action and photos on PEZ here
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
1:45 – Let’s talk Cobbles – Chris goes full gas through the Arenberg Forest
3:11 – Hallowed ground & protected roads
4:09 – Chris remembers the cobbles in the 1990’s
5:49 – Why didn’t Chris ride it?
7:26 – The sound of 360 tubulars
13:10 – The real dangers of the cobbles
14:49 – How the cobbled sections shape the race
17:40 – Carrefour de l’Arbre – why is it so decisive
19:43 – Into the Velodrome – it’s track time!
21:00 – The Most Famous Showers in Cycling
22:22 – Rider picks
27:18 – Wrap Up and Final Comments
# Keep it dialed to PEZ for more Paris-Roubaix previews as we look at what makes this race cool, and look forward to the action this Sunday. Al will have a full race report plus all the big photos as the Monuments season moves to France.
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