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- E3 Harelbeke, Gent-Wevelgem, the Tour of Flanders
and Paris-Roubaix are the most coveted
of all the cobbled classics.
And here's some fun facts and stats to whet your appetite
ahead of the races themselves.
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All of the early editions of Paris-Roubaix,
the first of which was run in 1896,
were actually run behind pacers
much like many of the bike races of that era.
In the first few editions,
the pacers consisted of other cyclists
on regular bikes or tandems
who would ride keeping the pace high
and then pull over.
From 1898 motorcycles and even cars were used to pace
the riders before being removed in 1901.
And pacing was completely stopped in 1910
forcing the riders to forge ahead on their own steam.
This move immediately to Paris-Roubaix
becoming even more popular.
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For years, organizers of the De Ronde
have offered prizes and bonuses to the first riders
on many of the climbs, or cobbled sectors.
And here are just few of the more, shall we say, unusual.
In 1953 a washing machine was given
to first rider of the Kruisberg.
In 1950 for being the best climber, Maurits Blomme
won a suite of bedroom furniture.
And in the same edition, three time winner, Fiorenzo Magni,
won a whopping 30,000 Belgian francs in priems he scooped up
on his long lone break to victory.
Enough to buy a medium sized house in Belgium at the time.
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The 2006 Paris-Roubaix saw controversy when three riders
who had originally placed second, third and fourth behind
Fabian Cancellara, were disqualified
for riding through a closed railway crossing
around 10 kilometers before the finish.
Just prior to the rapid arrival
and passing of a freight train.
With Leif Hoste, Peter Van Petegem and Vladimir Gusev
losing their coveted places it meant
Tom Boonen and Alessandro Ballan took over
the remaining podium spots.
Leaving Van Petegem to quip, "It's crazy,
"in Belgium they would have stopped the train..."
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Successful long breaks in the cobbled classics
don't happen very often.
And by long break, I mean the typical early breakaway
that's still seven, eight even nine minutes
or more before being reeled in prior to the commencement
of hostilities between the favorites.
The longest successful break in Paris-Roubaix
came in 1988, when Belgian Dirk Demol of ADR
and Swiss rider Thomas Wegmüller of Kas
broke away early to ride 222 kilometers
of the total 266 kilometer distance out in front.
Demol taking the victory from Wegmüller
with Laurent Fignon the next home
just under two minutes back.
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The fastest ever Tour of Flanders
was 43.6 kilometers an hour in 2001.
And won by Italian Gianluca Bortolami of Tacconi Sports.
Whilst the quickest ever edition of Paris-Roubaix
was last year in 2017, where BMC's Olympic champion,
Greg Van Avermaet, sped to his first ever monument victory
at a rather tres vit 45.2 kilometers an hour
or 28.1 miles an hour.
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The era just after World War II saw few riders
travel outside of their home country to race.
But one particular rider who went again the grain
in this regard was Italian, Fiorenzo Magni.
Three times a winner of the Giro d'Italia.
He had a fascination with one particular cobble classic,
the Tour of Flanders, and desperately wanted to win it.
To this end he traveled to Belgium,
equipping his bike with wooden rims
and handlebars wrapped in foam to protect
from the vibration of the infamous cobbles.
Rather successfully,
he went on to win it three times 1949, 1950 and 1951,
earning the nickname, the Lion of Flanders.
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The biggest time gap between the winner and runner up
in Paris-Roubaix was in 1970 when Eddy Merckx took
the victory by a margin of five minutes 21 seconds
over second place finisher, Roger De Vlaeminck.
The Cannibal also holds the same honor
in the Tour of Flanders too,
in 1969 he when he soloed to the win
by five minutes, 36 seconds
over second place finisher, Felice Gimondi.
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Only 12 riders have ever won both the Paris-Roubaix
and the Tour of Flanders in the same year.
And only two riders have achieved
that famous double on two occasions.
The double double.
They are living legends
Fabian Cancellara and Tom Boonen.
Each has three Flanders victories,
but tornado Tom, has the edge on Spartacus in Roubaix
with four wins to three.
Boonen is also the only rider in history to complete
the cobbled quadruple, a feat he achieved in 2012
with E3 Harelbeke, Gent-Wevelgem,
the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix
achieving in two weeks what would be the envy
of a lifetime for many.
Well I sincerely hope you enjoyed those cobblestone nuggets
and for a closer look at those four cobble classics,
click just down here.