Day 2 of our Paris Roubaix trip took us down to the cobbles at secteur 17 to sit in a bar to watch the race unfold with a beer before heading out to the cobbles to see the riders and support vehicles speed pass.
This section of cobbles were recently refurbished at a cost of 1 million euros so were less technical than other sections. However these cobbles are interesting because.
1. There is a rail crossing in the middle of the section. The barriers were lifted 10 seconds before the pros came through. The slight rise and fall of the road makes for a great view of the riders and the vehicles
2. There is an old railway bridge (Pont Gibus) about 100 metres further on that creates a bottleneck for both the riders and the support cars. The top of the bridge has been dismantled obviously to aid the passage of the taller vehicles.
Lake Rowe team sky