Paris-Roubaix podium history | 1967 edition | 1965 edition
Les Woodland's book Cycling's 50 Craziest Stories is available as an audiobook here. For the print and Kindle eBook versions, just click on the Amazon link on the right.
The race:
The 1966 Paris-Roubaix was 262.5 km long and raced at an average speed of 37.546 km/hr.
There were 134 starters and 58 classified finishers.
The riders were hammered by very cold rain.
Despite a stellar field of Belgians (Merckx, van Looy, Godefroot, Sels, Planckaert, Foré, etc.) Felice Gimondi was able to escape with about 35 kilometers to go.
Knowing he would be crushed in a sprint finish, he quickly built a substantial lead that turned out to be impervious to the Belgian chase.
A kind BikeRaceInfo.com reader who was at the finish said that Gimondi was able to take a shower before the awards ceremony while Jan Jansen & Gustave Desmet had "mud blankets".
Felice Gimondi finishes alone in Roubaix
Complete results:
Raymond Poulidor came in 17th, but was disqualified for an illegal bike change