All of the history and excitement of the world’s most famous one-day bicycle race is captured and comprehensively illustrated with hundreds of spectacular colour and black-and-white photographs in this lavish, oversized format. With authoritative text from France’s top sportswriters, Paris-Roubaix: A Journey Through Hell presents the inside story of the race, its great riders, its traditions, and its secrets.

Paris-Roubaix is known as “The Hell of the North” for good reason. Though flatter than the other spring classics, it includes long stretches of muddy farm roads paved with rough-hewn cobblestones. The cobbles alone are enough to shake bikes and bones to bits; throw in notoriously fickle weather, which often includes rain, snow, and driving wind, and the course becomes downright treacherous.

Held on the third Sunday in April since 1896, Paris-Roubaix is a race of great tradition. The race follows a 270-kilometer course between the suburbs of the French capital and the northern industrial city of Roubaix. Its long history, coupled with its proximity to the cycling-mad triangle of northern France, Belgium and Holland, means that it has served over the years to confirm the fame of cycling’s greatest champions. Paris-Roubaix: A Journey Through Hell is a complete exploration of this glorious race.

Paris-Roubaix: A Journey Through Hell retails in the U.K. for £24.95. Available at good bookshops or direct from www.cordee.co.uk.