The rescheduled 118th edition of Paris-Roubaix will take place on Sunday, October 25, 2020. The Monument, held in northern France, signals the culmination of the cobbled Classics season, and is possibly the most prestigious one-day race on the calendar – although fans of the Tour of Flanders, which takes place the weekend before, may argue with that
Known as 'The Hell of the North' or 'The Queen of the Classics', the race has long been established as among the most brutal of the year, and a test for specialist riders and equipment alike.
The route, one of the longest of the year at over 250km, runs from south to north from Compiègne, a town 80km north of Paris, over the most brutal roads the peloton will experience all year. After almost 30 cobbled sectors, the surviving riders make it to the smooth velodrome in Roubaix.
The 2019 edition of the race saw Philippe Gilbert (Deceuninck-QuickStep) triumph after making an elite move in the final 50 kilometres, later easily outsprinting Nils Politt (Katusha-Alpecin) in Roubaix.
Favourites for this unusual October edition of Paris-Roubaix include Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix), Jumbo-Visma's Wout van Aert, 2019 road race world champion Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo), 2014 and 2015 winners Niki Terpstra (Total Direct Energie) and John Degenkolb (Lotto Soudal), and AG2R La Mondiale's Classics specialist Oliver Naesen.
