Les Pavés du Nord

1919, Versailles, near Paris, World War I was brought to an end, and to the north, not that far, a journalist from L’Auto opened his eyes to see the devastation of the bombing. The fruitful crops had become barren wastelands, and all that was left of the farmhouses were just stones. Some say this reporter described this aftermath scene as the hell of the north.

Fact or fiction, this anecdote adds one more cobblestone to pave the road to the legend of the most challenging and most violent race of all time.

"Terra adapts wonderfully to cobblestone and offers a perfect combination of weight, comfort and resistance."

Nothing else can be said about these familiar places that have become synonymous with black and white images reviewing the more than 125 years of noise and fury of riders beating up the polished stone of these roads used by trucks and tractors throughout the rest of the year.

The same noise and fury were shown by a brave group of people who one day decided, 45 years ago, that those cobblestones were a heritage for Roubaix just as Notre Dame was for Paris, determined not to have the hills in their flat razed by asphalt and massive housing.

Les Amis de Paris-Roubaix have fought since then to preserve the race against the will of politicians who were set on pouring sand over the cobbles just to prevent the event’s celebration. Which, in their opinion, would show a negative picture of poverty and degradation they did not want to admit.

It was a huge battle for these proud men and women who work unpaid with the sole reward of saving the land where they had skinned their knees since they were kids.

Gli orgogliosi membri hanno lottato molto senza nessun’altra ricompensa che la conservazione di una terra dove si sbucciavano le ginocchia quando erano bambini.

The deep respect for their elders, who cut every cobblestone one by one and by hand, drives them to replicate the old traditions.

Year after year, the Amis remove the stones, lay a new solid foundation, then a new base for proper drainage, and put the cobbles back again.

Year after year the Amis work hard for a “queen they can’t see, a queen in their minds”, in the words of François Deulcier, the president nowadays.

The group comprises more than 350 proud members from 17 countries. The older members teach the offspring, and the future seems assured. The road has been exhausting. Roubaix, La Pascale, La Reine, and we expect nothing less.

However, every time we set our foot on this sacred land, which belongs to all, let’s not forget that it belongs to them, to the proud dwellers who would never allow anyone to pour any sand on their Hell of the North.

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