Paris-Roubaix

A Journey through Hell

Philippe Bouvet, Pierre Callewaert, Jean-Luc Gatellier, and Serge Laget

Paris-Roubaix, a one-day bicycle race in northeastern France, is known as “The Hell of the North” for good reason. Although the course is somewhat flatter than the other spring classics, it includes interminable stretches of muddy farm roads paved with rough-hewn cobblestones. The cobbles alone are enough to shake bikes and bones to bits; throw in the notoriously fickle weather, which often includes rain, snow, and driving wind, and the course becomes downright treacherous. Held the third Sunday in April since 1896, Paris-Roubaix is a race of great tradition. The race follows a 270-kilometer course between the suburbs of the French capital and the northern industrial city of Roubaix, and its long history, coupled with its proximity to the cycling-mad triangle of northern France, Belgium, and Holland, means that it has served over the years to confirm the fame of cycling’s greatest champions.

All of the history and excitement of the world’s most famous one-day bicycle race is captured and comprehensively illustrated with hundreds of spectacular color and black-and-white photographs in this lavish, oversized format. With authoritative text from France’s top sportswriters, Paris-Roubaix: A Journey Through Hell presents the inside story of the race, its great riders, its traditions, and its secrets.

Hardcover with jacket. Full color and b&w photos throughout.
10” x 12 ½”, 224 pp., $39.95, 978-1-934030-09-7

Introduction by Bob Roll.

Read Bobke's interview on Pezcyclingnews.com about his experiences racing Paris-Roubaix.

"Cycling has always been one of the most photogenic sports and Paris-Roubaix highlights this in its own unique way. This is a superb pictorial memento."--Procycling magazine

"Paris-Roubaix is a beautifully produced book…Leafing through the book, the reader is immediately captivated by the photos, which show how the race evolved over time. The photos are carefully selected, well-reproduced, and grouped by themes rather than by year, allowing comparisons across the decades." —Bicycle Quarterly

"The authors have approached the race in a clever and unusual fashion. Rather than following a chronology, the majority of the eleven chapters of Paris-Roubaix: A Journey Through Hell are divided into different aspects of the race. These include: the cobblestones themselves; the impact of the weather; messed-up finishes; unexpected winners; the Roubaix velodrome; and a brilliant chapter devoted to the effects of getting a flat tire. There is a gallery of the most celebrated winners and the whole book is stuffed with marvellous photos taken from the archives of L’Équipe. There appear to have been photographers present at every dramatic crash, or else there are always so many crashes that you just have to stand around and wait."--Pezcyclingnews.com. Read the full book review.

"Something about this book has grabbed me in a way no other cycling book ever has…This book punched me so hard it knocked a tooth loose. A Journey Through Hell brings the race back to life, capturing the faces of the people who make the race what it is. From the pros themselves to the police to the spectators, this book packs your lunch and drags you and your family out for a day at the races."—Belgium Knee Warmers Read the full book review.

"This is a book to die for... The writing is of a stunningly high standard, not just informative but descriptive, emotional, involving and delightful. The same can be said of the incredible number of monochrome and colour photographs of a quality that would not disgrace a copy of Rouleur magazine… I read [the book] completely oblivious to the distractions around me…and kept reading passages out loud to anyone within listening distance."—TheWashingMachinePost.net Read the full book review.

"This pictorial history of Paris-Roubaix is the first time I have seen the brutality of the event, and the fragility of the riders that are forced to race it, fully exposed in print. The quality of the photography is phenomenal, right from the sepia memories turn of the last century to the multicoloured, multinational new-millennium action, and the captions and story are written in a quirky, amusing style that encourages you to look at each image again."--Bicycling Magazine South Africa Read the full book review.

"The book contains hundreds of images, both in colour and black-and-white, and this is one of the reasons for its superiority over video recordings of the race. With the photograph on the page there is time to study the image and time and time again the background is as interesting as the actual subject… The eleven chapters of the book are cleverly themed to take you through the different facets of the race. When you arrive at chapter eleven you will have taken a much appreciated journey through more than a century of life and racing."—Lightweight News

"VeloPress has released a stunning ode to the history of cycling's greatest one day race in this elegant coffee table book…While the stories of the riders, of the race and of the people who fight for it are compelling, it is the photographs that make this book so stunning. A pictorial history not only of the race but of the sport through the ages graces the pages of this remarkable book. Both monochrome and color image quality are nothing short of perfection and shot selections are absolutely riveting. We see riders in triumph, riders in agony. We see riders coursing through history on safety bikes and on modern carbon fiber machines. We are witness to men trying to conquer the formidable beast that is the Hell of the North, frozen in time through the ages. Paris-Roubaix: A Journey Through Hell is a must for any cycling fan. Its stunning coffee table layout and spectacular photography will earn its place as one of the greatest cycling books of all time."—East Coast Mountain Biking Read the full review.

"One can't help but get inspired to ride some rough stuff after reading Paris-Roubaix. The book captures the intensity and emotion of one of the more brutal sporting events in the world, dating back to 1896. This coffee table book shows the elation and sadness of nearly 100 years of racing over the manliest of courses, and is worthy of any hardened cyclist's bookshelf." —BikeRadar.com Read the full book review.

"If you could make a crosscut through the race, you'd see layers which, mundane on their own, have converged into something fascinating. Paris-Roubaix: A Journey Through Hell is easily the most comprehensive effort to perform that crosscut and allow English-speaking fans a chance to examine those layers...Almost the second you crack the cover, the drama of the race explodes off the page." —PodiumCafe.com Read the full book review.

"Nothing will get you pumped and primed for the upcoming race, as well as for a new season of bike riding, like Paris-Roubaix: A Journey Through Hell…[The book] keeps alive the elements of folklore and poetry that are Paris-Roubaix. Paris-Roubaix is a celebration of the most famous of races, as well as of a beautiful sport that's been around long enough to have talented authors gloriously sing its praises and deify its participants….If you need motivation to tackle a sloppy spring, look no further than this book." —Mountain Flyer Read the full book review.