Following the first four races of the weekend (amateurs, juniors, hopefuls, women), the 121st edition of the legendary Paris-Roubaix race will start this Sunday.
For this year, the 175 runners will have to face an unprecedented route. The sectors of Briastre (km 111.5) and the hamlet of Buat (km 129.5), the only uphill sector, will be back, increasing the distance of cobblestones to 55.7 km.
In total, the course will be 260 km long and will be punctuated by 29 sectors, a record for 30 years.
At the top of the list is Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), winner of the Tour of Flanders last Sunday. Favorite for Sunday's race, he could succeed himself in the event of victory, having already won the “Hell of the North” last year.
Titled world champion in 2023, the grandson of Raymond Poulidor would then be the sixth rider in history to win on “the queen of the classics” with the rainbow jersey.
Paris-Roubaix will take place this Sunday April 7 from 11:10 a.m. in Compiègne before the real start at 11:25 a.m. The arrival is scheduled for 5:10 p.m. at the Roubaix velodrome. The race can be followed with live commentary on the Parisien.fr website and live on France 3 and Eurosport from 10:50 a.m.