(Update: “Paris-Roubaix disaster for Hincapie…”) 
There's more to the history of the “Hell of the North” than cobblestoned roads and mud-splattered cyclists.
Jan Didier at Pez Cycling writes about the Paris-Roubaix's colorful background surrounding the 103 years of bike racing in “Roubaix History: From Queen to Hell … and Back.”
Interesting how? For instance, one of the early winners Frenchman Octave Lapize, died as a fighter pilot for the French Army during the battle of Verdun.
Another, Charles Crupelandt, right, was heralded around France during his career but died blind, poor and with both legs amputated 40 years after his successes.
Other tidbits — victories despite numerous flats, misdirected cyclists at the finish, and heroic sprints in the velodrome.
The 104th annual Paris-Roubaix runs this Sunday. All the major teams will be there. George Hincapie of Discovery Channel Pro Cycling team will compete, hoping to finish one better than his 2nd place finish in 2005.
CyclingNews and VeloNews will cover live on the Internet; OLN coverage begins at 6 p.m. (ET) Sunday. (I'll be out of town, so don't worry about spoiler headlines!)
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