Les Woodland Paris-Roubaix Photo Gallery
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The handsome gent in the picture below is Les Woodland, author of more than 25 books, nearly all of them about cycling. He is seated near the villainous cobbles of the Carrefour de l'Arbre sector, a regular feature of the Paris-Roubaix spring classic bicycle race.
McGann Publishing is preparing his latest book for publication, a look at the colorful history of Paris-Roubaix. If you'd like to be notified when Paris-Roubaix: The Inside Story is available, just sign up for our Email newsletter at the top right of this page. It should be released before the end of 2012.
Here are some photos Mr. Woodland took on a visit to "The Hell of the North".
Les Woodland seated next to the Carrefour de l'Arbre stretch of cobbles. Rated five stars (the highest level of difficulty) by the Paris-Roubaix organizers, the pavé sector comes near the end of the race.
If you can't do it, you can dream all the same - over a beer and beneath the names of the gods in the bar at Roubaix track
Alain Bernard: riders have reason to curse him. It was he who found the cobbles of the Carrefour de l'Arbre. Now he's mayor of that area and a leading light of the Amis de Paris-Roubaix.
Alain Bernard - "all my own work."
The mail-order company, La Redoute, broke with tradition and insisted the race finish not on the track but outside its office. It wasn't a popular move.
It's a long, long and bumpy way from Paris...
...but finally the agony is over
What the same place looked like in 2007 as winner Stuart O'Grady completed his final lap. (Fotoreporter Sirotti picture)
The showers are the oldest part of the track, a hangover from what stood there before. The names on the stone stalls each celebrate a winner
Mr. Woodland at the famous Roubaix track showers where the exhausted riders wash off the grime of 260 kilometers of racing.