'It's real, mate' - When Hayman conquered Boonen at Paris-Roubaix

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(Image credit: Future)

After starting out as the brainchild of two Roubaix textile manufacturers that hoped to promote their newly built velodrome, Paris-Roubaix has grown into possibly the most popular one-day race on the current cycling calendar.

Cyclingnews' first encounter with the Hell of the North came in the early months of the site's existence in 1995. As it was in those days, the information was short and to the point, with little more than three paragraphs recounting Franco Ballerini's solo victory.

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Born in Ireland to a cycling family and later moved to the Isle of Man, so there was no surprise when I got into the sport. Studied sports journalism at university before going on to do a Masters in sports broadcast. After university I spent three months interning at Eurosport, where I covered the Tour de France. In 2012 I started at Procycling Magazine, before becoming the deputy editor of Procycling Week. I then joined Cyclingnews, in December 2013.