Look at the beautiful color of those stones.

Merckx in 1970:

1981:


Left to right are Kuiper, de Vlaeminck, Demeyer, Hinault, and Moser.

Everyone in this pic has won at Roubaix. There are 10 Roubaix victories in this elite group.

The greatest Roubaix rider of all time:

I love this pic of de Vlaeminck flying to another Roubaix victory:


You have the bitchin Brooklyn uniform and the Gios Torino bike with the deep blue color.

Look at the mechanic standing on the team car's window sill. He's standing at the ready in case de Vlaeminck's machine craps out and he needs another in a hurry. Lots of team mechanics used to do this. Now it's verboten. It's deemed too dangerous today. The races just aren't the same with the mechanics in the vehicles rather than on them.

Octave Lapize:


Lapize won Roubaix three years in a row: 1909, 1910, and 1911.

In the 1910 Tour de France, Lapize was climbing the Cold du Tourmalet and accused the Tour organizers of being assassins for including such a murderous climb. Today there is a statue of Octave Lapize at the top of the Tourmalet:

Maurice Garin:


Garin is famous for winning the first Tour de France in 1903, but he also won Paris-Roubaix in 1897 and 1898.

1987 champion Eric Vanderaerden:

1985 and 1991 champion Marc Madiot:


Love those awesome Renault-Elf-Gitane colors. Note the French tricolor trim on the cuffs and neck too. Super Record levers converted to aero and positioned very low on the Cinelli 66 bars.

Just bad ass.

Sean Kelly:


Kelly won in 1984 and 1986:

Henri Pelissier:


Roubaix Champion, 1919 and 1921.

Look at that beautiful bike with the wingnuts on the hubs and the single brake.

The legendary Mavic Special Service des Courses rim:


Mavic designed the SSC specifically for Paris-Roubaix. The 21.5mm width, 400g weight, and special hard anodizing made these rims the strongest in the peloton.

Awesome pic of de Vlaeminck on the pave:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QhiTHD9IDF...2+%2810%29.JPG

Another one of de Vlaeminck:


Look at the bitchin Cinelli 65 criterium bars.

On the line-up on the right there's what looks like Planckaert, and then Moser, Lemond, and Kelly.

I love this:


See how all of the mechanics are riding on the team cars rather than in them? This practice gives both the race and race photos a lot of energy.

And look at the bitchin track pedals and centerpulls on that Colnago. And no helmet in sight. That's pure.

These are Giants of the Road.

I guess the Flanders organization didn't feel anything when it saw this pic of Maertens and de Vlaeminck racing up the Muur:


Unbelievable.

They both look as though they crapped their shorts. This pic doesn't show it, but Maerten's Flandria is a deep red color and de Vlaeminck's Gios is a deep blue. These are are iconic machines in cycling. Look at the rattle in de Vlaemick's chain. That's just badass.