Preview Paris-Roubaix. Fierce battle to come in the Hell of the North

Paris-Roubaix is set to take place in the 17th of April and it will the final cobbled classic of the spring at World Tour level. It is an unique race which always sees some of the most exciting action of the year, as the riders are set to ride through dozens of kilometers of cobbled sectors.

With 257.5 kilometers on the menu, endurance and tactics will be crucial. The Troisville sector, the first of 29 comes with a little over 95 kilometers of racing, it's 2.2Km long and will be the place where real racing starts, although some big names may be in the breakaway.

Several cobbled sectors will follow, the 4-star ones include Quiévy to Saint-Python (3700 meters, 141Km to go) and Haveluy to Wallers (2500 meters, 101Km to go), this one will come right before the most iconic sector of the race which is the Trouée d'Arenberg which finishes with 93 kilometers to go.

Mons-en-Pévèle sector, a 3Km long sector which finishes with 45Km to go will be the second 5-star sector of the race and comes in a crucial time where the decisive attacks may come due to the proximity with the finish.

The final combination of sectors where it's likely to see differences being made is the Camphin-en-Pévèle and Carrefour de l'Abre. They are 4 and 5-star sectors respectively, feature 1800 and 2100 meters in distance and come with 17Km and 14Km to go. From there on there is the Hem sector which finishes with 7 kilometers to go but is unlikely to create differences, before a fast run-up into Roubaix where the riders will finish on the old velodrome.

CyclingUpTodate prediction:

**** Mathieu van der Poel

*** Wout van Aert, Mads Pedersen, Kasper Asgreen

** Christophe Laporte, Stefan Küng, Dylan van Baarle

* Alexander Kristoff, Florian Senechal, Yves Lampaert, Jasper Stuyven, Matej Mohoric

You will be able to keep up with the race here on CyclingUpToDate as we bring you the race report and interviews surrounding Paris-Roubaix.