Paris-Roubaix podium history | 1971 edition | 1969 edition

Bill & Carol McGann's book The Story of the Tour de France, Vol 2: 1976 - 2018 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 1970 Paris-Roubaix was 266 km kilometers long and raced at an average speed of 41.653 km/hr.

There were 155 starters and 43 classified finishers.

The riders were drenched with pouring rain.

By the exit of the Wallers-Arenberg sector of cobbles, the lead group had been reduced to seven riders, four of them on the Flandria team.

Eddy Merckx, despite suffering several punctures, hammered away at the group until he had just Eric Leman and Roger de Vlaeminck with him.

De Vlaeminck punctured and Leman grew tired, allowing Merckx to arrive at the Roubaix velodrome with more than five minutes in hand.

Photographer John Pierce, who took the pictures of Roger de Vlaeminck & Jan Janssen below wrote about the Janssen picture: "I used a Mamiya 6cm x 6cm with fill flash...it was totally humping down with rain...Merckx and DeVlaeminck came around the corner, Merckx overshot and went onto the sidewalk behind spectators!! So I missed him, but got Roger DeVlaeminck.."

Eddy Merckx alone, on the wet and muddy cobbles on his way to victory in Roubaix. As the cover says, nothing will stop him.

Here's second-place Roger de Vlaeminck and next to him is Eric Leman. Looking for a softer rider, Leman has a bamboo rim. Photo: © PhotoSport International / John Pierce

Here's seventh place Jan Janssen. Photo: © PhotoSport International / John Pierce.

Complete Results:

1. Eddy Merckx (Faema-Faemino) 6hr 23min 15sec.

2. Roger de Vlaeminck (Flandria-Mars) @ 5min 21sec
3. Eric Leman (Flandria-Mars) @ 5min 29sec
4. André Dierickx (Flandria-Mars) s.t.
5. Walter Godefroot (Salvarani) @ 7min 7sec
6. Frans Verbeeck (Geens-Watney-Diamant) s.t.
7. Jan Janssen (Bic) s.t.
8. Roger Rosiers (Bic) s.t.
9. Gerben Karstens (Peugeot) @ 8min 5sec
10. Jean-Pierre Monseré (Flandria-Mars) s.t.
11. Georges Vandenberghe (Faema-Faemino) @ 10min 1sec
12. Edward Sels (Willem II-Gazelle) @ 10min 55sec
13. Raymond Poulidor (Fagor-Mercier) @ 11min12sec
14. Michele Dancelli (Molteni) s.t.
15. Jozef Spruyt (Faema-Faemino) @ 12min 40sec
16. Roberto Ballini (Dreher) s.t.
17. Gérard Vianen (Caballero-Laurens) s.t.
18. Patrick Sercu (Dreher) s.t.
19. Lucien Aimar (Sonolor-Lejeune) @ 13min 42sec
20. Evert Dolman (Willem II-Gazelle) s.t.
21. Adriano Passuello (Dreher) s.t.
22. Eric Raes (Hertekamp-Magniflex-Novy) @ 17min 14sec
23. Guido Reybrouck (Germanvox-Wega) s.t.
24. Valère Van Sweevelt (Peugeot) s.t.
25. Antoon Houbrechts (Salvarani) @ 17min 51sec
26. Joop Zoetemelk (Flandria-Mars) s.t.
27. Willy Monty (Faema-Faemino) @ 18min 40sec
28. Jos Van der Vleuten (Willem II-Gazelle) s.t.
29. Ferdinand Bracke (Peugeot) s.t.
30. Joseph Schoeters (Peugeot) s.t.
31. Théo Verschueren (Hertekamp-Magniflex-Novy) s.t.
32. Ronny Van der Vijver (Flandria-Mars) s.t.
33. Leif Mortensen (Bic) @ 21min 50sec
34. Jan van Nueten (Willem II-Gazelle) @ 23min 14sec
35. Barry Hoban (Sonolor-Lejeune) @ 25min 8sec
36. Raymond Riotte (Sonolor-Lejeune) s.t.
37. Léo Duyndam (Caballero-Laurens) @ 27min 25sec
38. Cyrille Guimard (Fagor-Mercier) @ 28min 23sec
39. Gösta Pettersson (Ferretti) s.t.
40. Alain Vasseur (Bic) @ 29min 18sec
41. Gérard Besnard (Peugeot) @ 32min 50sec
42. Ottavio Crepaldi (Salvarani) s.t.
43. Régis Delépine (Frimatic-De Gribaldy) @ 34mn 58sec