No sooner had Philippe Gilbert crossed the line in glory at last weekend’s Tour of Flanders than the cycling world’s attention turned towards this Sunday, when the Queen of Classics herself, Paris – Roubaix, will bring down the curtain on this year’s cobbled races and four-time champion Tom Boonen’s career. Will he pull off a record fifth win and a fairy-tale ending? Will Peter Sagan stay upright this time and spoil the party? Will Greg Van Avermaet live up to his newfound status as Flanders’ favourite and bag that first monument win?

On the train home from Belgium this year following my fifth trip to the Ronde, I remembered that I had yet to blog about my only trip so far to see the Hell of the North. Three years ago my husband John and I spent just over a week cycling from London to Bruges, Ghent, Oudenaarde and finally Lille, taking in the Tour of Flanders, Scheldeprijs and Paris – Roubaix along the way. If you just want to take in Paris – Roubaix on its own, this is easy to do as Roubaix is essentially a suburb of Lille, easily accessible from the UK via Eurostar.

The road to Roubaix

The last stage of our journey was to cycle about 80 km from Oudenaarde to Lille, where we were going to base ourselves for Paris – Roubaix two days later. To do the same you simply head south out of town from the Tour of Flanders museum and town square and turn right onto the cycle path running alongside the Scheldt river. If you keep your wits about you and keep your eye out for signs to the relevant towns, this path will carry you all the way to Lille via Berchem, Avelgem, Spiere and Roubaix. At Spierre you turn west along the Canal de l’Espierres which later turns into the Canal de Roubaix.

Although not quite as lovely as the stretch of the river between Ghent and Oudenaarde, the majority of this route is still pretty scenic, featuring plenty of blossom and ducklings at this time of year.

The Roubaix Canal

As you approach Roubaix and Lille, things take a more industrial turn, but the high quality tracks and helpful signposts you have come to expect from cycling in Belgium happily continue into France; it’s very difficult to lose your way.

Keeping it real on the outskirts of Lille

The Roubaix canal, unsurprisingly, leads you to Roubaix itself. Although this is ultimately the place you have come to visit, you do not want to linger here. Some of the districts we passed through reminded me of The Wire and I was grateful we didn’t have to stop to fix punctures or similar. Keep Roubaix for race day and instead keep on the signed cycle route that wiggles west along traffic-free paths through less apocalyptic suburbs in the north of the city before turning south to end in the city centre.

How not to watch Paris Roubaix

Unlike the Tour of Flanders, whose route looks like someone drew Mr Messy on the area surrounding Oudenaarde and allows you to see the race several times, Paris- Roubaix is a 250 km slog north in a mostly straight line from Compeigne. Even with a car it would be difficult to see the race in more than one place due to road blocks and parking issues.

Apparently there are big screens at Arenberg, site of the notorious “trench” of bastard cobbles that extend for nearly two and a half kilometres which were helpfully suggested for inclusion by former Arenberg mine worker and professional cyclist Jean Stablinski in the 1960s. I’m not sure you’d want to spend the day there though and it’s 100km from the finish line. An alternative is to do what we did and watch the finale in the iconic velodrome of Roubaix, which is certainly easier to get to if you’re travelling by bike or public transport as we were.

As I’ve already hinted at, Roubaix is not the sort of location where you’d want to stay the night but Lille, just 15 km southwest, is fine and where you need to be to catch the Eurostar home from anyway. Lille’s public transport system, which links to Roubaix, is easy to navigate, centring around two metro lines and two tram lines. All lines and trams run from Gare Lille Flanders and Gare Lille Europe in the centre of town.

Lille metro system

Like clowns we boarded Metro line 2 on the day of the race and got off at Roubaix – Grand Place, assuming the location of the velodrome would become magically obvious once we got there. How big could Roubaix be?

As we were belatedly scrutinising a map at the station and getting nowhere, three lovely men in high vis vests appeared from nowhere, asked us what we were up to and sucked their teeth in Gallic fashion when we told them we were looking for the velodrome. They told us we should stay on until the next stop (Gare Jean Lebas) and take bus number citi 5 from there to the velodrome.  All three men then kindly but inexplicably accompanied us to the next station and deposited us at the right bus stop. I’ve no idea what their job was or why it required three of them to do it. No wonder the French civil service is collapsing under the weight of its own expenditure.

Anyway, this bus stop epitomised the Hell of the North better than a silly old bike race ever could. I don’t think I’ve ever spent a longer half hour waiting for a bus, feeling incredibly uneasy in what was clearly a very rough neighbourhood where Bad Things could happen at any time. I do not recommend you take this route to the velodrome unless you enjoy sizing up every passing pedestrian as a potential mugger and spending time with your partner in terrified silence.

The bus took us on a scenic route through a selection of similarly dicey neighbourhoods before grinding to a halt in a slightly better area where signs to the velodrome had started to appear. Ironically the cause of our delay was road closures due to the race itself, so we got out and walked the rest of the way.

The route we should have taken to the velodrome was the reverse of the route we ended up taking home, which I do recommend. Take tram R east to Parc Barbieux or Hopital Victor Provo and follow the signs from there for Velodrome STAB (named in honour of Jean Stablinski, not because you might get stabbed on the way. I think). If you’re riding there’s a cycle path following this tram route, but be aware that you might find it a struggle to park your bike safely at the velodrome.

However you get there, get there early enough to enjoy a stroll along the last stretch of cobbles leading to the velodrome, where the names of former winners are inscribed on individual stones.

The velodrome

The race finishes in the old veldodrome (there’s a newish indoor one next door) somewhere between 4 and 5.30 pm, but obviously you’ll want to get there at least two hours before to bag a place on the edge of the track and to watch the race unfold on the big screen.

Roubaix velodrome

After the carnival atmosphere of Flanders, the set-up here felt like a bit of a damp squib to be honest. There was one beer concession and not a frituur in sight. Still, entry is free and there was plenty going on with the finale of the juniors taking place ahead of the pros and the usual eccentric in vintage dress having a go. As the day and the race went on the spectator areas gradually filled up and the anticipation started to build.

Tom Boonen’s maiden Roubaix victory

Paris – Roubaix nearly always throws up an unpredictable, exciting race and the 2014 edition was no exception. With just a few kilometres to go and in trademark fashion, Niki Terpstra clipped off the front of an elite group of riders to solo to victory before our eyes in the Roubaix velodrome.

Niki Terpstra checks to see if his lead is holding up

John Degenkolb outsprinted Fabian Cancellara for second place from a group that included Peter Sagan, Tom Boonen, Bradley Wiggins and Sep Vanmarcke.

Cycling’s finest wind it up for the sprint for second place

Staying in Lille

As well as being very convenient for watching Paris – Roubaix, Lille has its charms and is worth a day or two of your time. It’s crammed with grand civic buildings that hark back to its glory days as a major centre for textiles in the 16th and 17th centuries and the old town is a charming network of narrow cobbled streets packed with interesting shops. Look out for cheesemongers selling Pave de Roubaix, a hard, strong cheese with a shape resembling that of one of the infamous cobble stones.

Vieux Lille

The food is mostly Flemish in nature, which means hearty and/or mussel-based, often involving beer. There are lots of good restaurants along the Rue de Gand including the atmospheric Cave aux Fioles and the Trois Brasseurs near the central train stations is  a must to sample their delicious blonde, brune, ambre and blanche beers brewed on the premises.

4 great beers at The 3 Brasseurs,

Getting there

Eurostar runs from London St Pancras International to Lille Europe and you can take your bike with you as luggage if you take it in a bike bag. Alternatively you can book your bike on as luggage in advance for £30 each way which means you can simply ride off when you get to the other end.  You can also turn up and register your bike on the day but there’s no guarantee your bike will travel on the same train as you – more details about bikes on Eurostar here.

Compared to Brussels or Paris, taking your bike on Eurostar is more frustrating in Lille because you have to squish your bike through their x-ray machine and lift it on and off rather than simply handing it over to someone who presumably does all that behind closed doors.

Is it worth it?

Definitely. My favourite race remains the Tour of Flanders and the incredible atmosphere on race day and the opportunities for brilliant cycling in the area mean that I will continue to go there year after year. I don’t feel the same draw to go back to see Paris – Roubaix repeatedly, but as it remains one of the greatest and most entertaining races on the calendar, I know I’ll be back at some point.