Let's start with a look at the previews we've done of today's race, beginning with details on our quick guide on how to watch Paris-Roubaix live, covering both the women's race and Sunday's men's event.
The Bäckstedt family have a very strong interest in today's race. Magnus Backstedt won Roubaix in 2004, while Elynor and Zoe will both be lining up today, the former for Trek-Segafredo, the latter for a Roubaix debut with EF Education-TIBCO-SVB at the age of 18. In an interview with Tom Davidson, she said she'll be "full of emotions" at the start and that her goal is to finish.
One of the big stories during the week leading up to Paris-Roubaix has been the transfer of Audrey Cordon-Ragot to the Human Powered Health team, for whom she'll be making her debut today. Anne-Marije Rook took a look back at the last eight turbulent months in the career of the French champion
The riders have rolled away from the neutralised start in Denain. There are two riders missing from the peloton. AG Insurance-Soudal QuickStep's Maud Rijnbeek is still feeling the effects of a crash in De Panne, while Ceratizit-WNT's Mylène De Zoete fell sick overnight.
140km to go: The race starts with laps around Denain, and the first attacks of the 145.5km are already being made. None have stuck so far
Some interesting stats in L'Équipe this morning highlighting one the things that makes SD Worx stand apart from its rivals. In 2022, their roster notched up 460 days of racing between them, 93 fewer than Trek-Segafredo, 107 fewer than DSM and 151 fewer than FDJ-Suez. The Dutch team puts a lot more focus on altitude training camps and carefully selecting its race programme with a clear focus on the biggest events
122km to go: Still no breakaway, the first of 17 sections of cobbles is from Hornaing to Wandignies, with 82.5km remaining. It's a 4-star section in terms of difficulty (five being the toughest) extending for 3.7km.
Here's the full details on those 17 sections of cobbles that feature on today's parcours...
115km to go: 18 riders have gone clear just before entering Saulzoir. Most of the big teams are represented, with Lisa Klein up front for Trek-Segafredo, Femke Markus covering the move for SD Worx, and Britain's Alice Towers up there for Canyon//Sram. Also in the group are Eugénie Duval (FDJ-Suez), Daniek Hengeveld (DSM), Marta Lach (Ceratizit-WNT), Katia Ragusa (Liv Racing Teqfind), Laura Tomasi (UAE Team ADQ), Josie Talbot (Cofidis), Lisa van Helvoirt (Parkhotel Valkenburg), Julia Borgström (AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step), Alison Jackson (EF Education-Tibco-SVB), Marie Morgane Le Deunff (Arkea), Susanne Andersen (Uno-X), Amber Pate (Jayco AlUla), Jesse Vandenbulcke (Human Powered Health), Marion Borras (St Michel-Mavic-Auber) and Marthe Truyen (Fenix-Deceuninck).
105km to go: 42.7km covered in the first hour. The 18-strong breakaway group now has a lead of 5mins 40sec
100km to go: A crash in the bunch. Around 20 riders involved, all are racing again, including Jumbo-Visma's Linda Riedmann, who was took some time to remount.
90km to go: The first of 17 cobbled sections is just ahead. Still 18 riders in the lead group with a lead of more than 5mins on the peloton.
77km to go: The gap is 5-10 as the peloton exits the first section of cobbles at Wandignies. British champion Alice Towers is still in the breakaway group. Trek-Segafredo are setting the pace in the peloton.
74km to go: The first two sections have been fairly dry, particularly on the high part of the cobbles in the middle of the road. There's still puddles on the edges where dangers lurk. The peloton is currently 5-30 back and needs to start reacting soon if it wants to get back on terms with this large escape group who are collaborating well.
Puncture for Marianne Vos, whose Jumbo-Visma team have also missed the break.
67km to go: After getting a gap on the 2nd cobbled sector, DSM's Daniek Hengeveld has pressed on alone through the 3rd and has a 30sec lead on the rest of the breakaway.
51km to go: Hengeveld still looking comfortable up front, 50sec clear coming through the fifth sector, where Lotto Kopecky has accelerated to the front. Almost instantly, there's a big crash in the peloton, with Trek's Elynor Bäckstedt among those on the ground.
49km to go: Coming off that sector, Kopecky is in a group of 6 with Trek's Elisa Longo Borghini and Lucinda Brand, Movistar's Floortje Mackaij, DSM's Pfeiffer Georgi, and Canyon-SRAM's Elise Chabbey. They're 3-30 behind Hengeveld.
47km to go: Three more riders join the Kopecky group in the five-star section of cobbles at Mons-en-Pévèle: Franziska Koch (DSM), Chiara Consonni (UAE Team ADQ) and Romy Kasper (AG Insurance-Soudal Quick-Step).
43.5km to go: Hengeveld is reeled in by 11 members of the breakaway group, who now lead the Kopecky/Longo Borghini group by 3mins.
39km to go: There are now 15 riders at the front including Trek's Lisa Klein, EF Education's Alison Jackson and Canyon's British champion Alice Towers.
Elisa Longo Borghini loses control at the front of the chase group, slides out and takes down the whole group behind her, apart from AG Insurance's Romy Kasper. Longo Borghini's Trek teammate Lucinda Brand does a frightening somersault over the fallen riders and hits the deck.
BIG CRASH!
31km to go: Kopecky and Balsamo are the two most notable victims of the maass crash. Both are dropped from the group they were in once it's going again. Brand, Consonni, her teammate Marta Bastianelli, Chabbey and Georgi are in that group that bridges back up to Kasper.
27km to go: First sign of a breakdown in cooperation in the lead group of 15 as Liv's Katia Ragusa accelerates away. She's quickly chased down going onto the 11th section of cobbles. The Brand/Georgi chase group is at 1-45.
21km to go: Following an injection of pace by EF's Alison Jackson, the front group splits in half going into the 4-star section at Camphin en Pévèle. The Brand/Georgi chase group is at 1-20, with a group containing Kopecky and the dogged Vos closing in.
17.5km to go: The front group comes back together just before the start of the fearsome Carrefour de l'Arbre section. Uno-X's Susanne Andersen accelerates on to it, with the Brand/Georgi group now at 55sec.
13km to go: Just seven at the front coming out of Carrefour de l'Arbre: Jackson, Lach, Duval, Markus, Ragusa, Truyen and Borras.
12km to go: The Kopecky/Brand/Georgi/Vos/Longo Borghini group is now less than 20sec behind the leaders
7km to go: Alison Jackson giving her all to keep the lead group clear of the favourites closing in, now at 10secs.
3km to go: The 7 leaders still have 13sec
ALISON JACKSON WINS PARIS-ROUBAIX!
Track rider Marion Borras took the lead coming into the final bend, but couldn't hold off Jackson's final acceleraton, the Canadian finishing ahead of Katia Ragusa and Marthe Truyen. SD Worx's Femke Markus crashed on the penultimate lap. Her teammate Lotte Kopecky led in the group behind.
Paris-Roubaix Top 10
That was a fantastic race, very much a classic. For a long time it looked like the breakaway group would never be caught, then it was steadily reeled in, only for the impetus to be taken out of the chase by Elisa Longo Borghini's sliding crash on the cobbles. Even then, the chasers almost reeled them in, but huge credit should go to Alison Jackson for driving at the front of the break and then making the most of the opportunity she'd been largely responsible for creating by winning the sprint on the famous velodrome.
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