Another big change in the world of Paris-Roubaix

There is someting ironical (or I mesured well, that it's the right time for bigger changes in the world of one-day cycling races, especially in the life of the Monuments), that since I slowly started disliking Paris-Roubaix for its anachronistic nature, there are some big changes in progress. 

Mathieu van der Poel leading the peloton kn the cobbles at the Paris-Roubaix in 2025


Since I didn't watched the race during the last three seasons, when I recently spent a weekend with catching up with the event, I only learnt then that there is a slighly change in the course right before Arenberg for safety reasons. 

And now here is another big change, a new official name 

Paris-Roubaix Hauts-de-France.

 (although in the everyday use it will remain simply Paris-Roubaix).

Although it's partially because of sponsorship reasons, the regional government of Hauts-de-France is a sponsor of the race since the pandemic, I like the idea, that the different French regions related to different famous road cycling competitions get more attention. 

It's really something what traces back to the past, the origins of road cycling races like Tour de France which was a symbol of the unification tendencies of the Third Republic mostly at the end of the 19th century. Or,  some, like me, like argue, it wasn't a unification, rather homogenisation, surpressing regional diversity. 


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