The dust has settled on the pavé of northern France, finally. The joints of the 317 riders who competed in Paris-Roubaix and Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift across the weekend will surely still be aching from the juddering experience of the cobbles, and Alison Jackson probably still has not come down from the ceiling following the shock of her win, so there is still time to take a look back at the Hell of the North.
Over two days of dynamic racing, Jackson triumphed in the velodrome from the break on Saturday's race, before Mathieu van der Poel took advantage of Wout van Aert's misfortune to solo to victory in the men's event on Sunday. As always, the brutal roads of northern France led to some outstanding photography.
There were some spectacular crashes in both the men's and women's race, but also scenes of tenderness amidst the brutality. Here's Cycling Weekly's roundup of some of the best images from the two days in hell.
Saturday: Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift
Hours before her historic win, Alison Jackson was just hanging out in Denain, being her usual effervescent self
An early breakaway was established just 15km into the race, which contained Trek-Segafredo's Lisa Klein, EF Education-Tibco-SVB's Alison Jackson and SD Worx's Femke Markus, among others. This would go onto become the race-defining move, with a lead of more than five minutes at points
Crashes were a theme of the day, as always at Paris-Roubaix. Here is Shari Bossuyt of Canyon-SRAM and Elynor Bäckstedt of Trek-Segafredo after hitting the deck
The day's most impactful crash, however, came on the three-star Pont-Thibault à Ennevelin, with defending champion Elisa Longo Borghini sliding out. It halted the group of favourites' impetus, and caused Lotte Kopecky to chase on her own
Up the road, Alison Jackson kept riding, refusing to give up on the dream. There is not a better race to be up front at
All this meant the remnants of the break entered the velodrome with about a ten-second advantage on the chasers. The drama was not over, however, with Femke Markus sliding out on the concrete surface
Alison Jackson proved the strongest sprinter from a surprise group to sprint for the line, with neither Katia Ragusa (Liv Racing TeqFind) or Marta Truyen (Fenix-Deceuninck) on the list of top favourites at the beginning of the day, although they completed the podium
A visibly stunned Jackson could not stop beaming, and once she'd danced and collapsed on the grass, managed the energy to lug the famous cobblestone on the podium
With the third edition completed, there were a few broken bodies in the Roubaix Velodrome. Here, FDJ Suez's Marie Le Net is comforted by Grace Brown after finishing 41st
Linda Riedmann's battle scars are clear to see here. The Jumbo-Visma rider finished outside the time limit, but still made it to the velodrome
Sunday: Paris-Roubaix
About 17 hours later, it was the turn of the men to tackle the pavé. A lot of attention at the start in Compiégne was on Greg van Avermaet and John Degenkolb, two former winners for whom this edition could be the last. The latter had a very active day, as we will see later
Unlike the Femmes the day before, the day's break failed to snap the elastic, and the winner was always likely to come from the main bunch. Here, Jumbo-Visma drill it on the front on a cobbled sector, keeping the break in check
In what is his last edition of Paris-Roubaix, Peter Sagan had a hard day, crashing on the cobbles, and leaving the race after being diagnosed with concussion
The race always builds to the Trouée d'Arenberg, which is tackled downhill and at speed. Crashes are common, and this year meant the effective end of the race for Kasper Asgreen of Soudal Quick-Step and Dylan van Baarle of Jumbo-Visma. The latter, the defending champion, fractured his shoulder and hand. In the background, notice Filippo Colombo of Q36.5, who ended up in the forest, such was the force of the crash
Similarly, Jonathan Milan (Bahrain-Victorious), Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma) and others were caught up in a crash on the cobbles. The sound must have been awful.
Still, the Arenberg trench provides a wonderful arena for pro cycling, if you are prepared to suffer
At the front of the race, a group of favourites established itself, which included three members of Alpecin-Deceuninck at one stage. Here, Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen occupy one side of the road, watched by the others. With as much as 85km to go, the race-defining move had happened
A fateful coming together on the Carrefour de l'Arbre spelled an end for John Degenkolb's chances. The DSM rider was squeezed out by Philipsen and Van der Poel, who were setting up the latter's decisive attack.
On the same sector, the inevitable coming together of the two favourites happened, with Van der Poel and Wout van Aert riding away. Thoughts immediately turned to what would surely be a velodrome sprint for the ages
The moment the race was won? While they looked to be working well together, on the Carrefour de l'Arbre Van Aert punctured, meaning Van der Poel could ride off. Even a quick bike change could not salvage the situation for the Belgian
His great rival's misfortune meant Van der Poel could solo to victory, taking his fourth monument win and his second of 2023. Wout van Aert could only look on as the Dutchman crossed the line, as he and Jasper Philipsen still had an extra lap to go. The agony
Van der Poel basks in his magical victory
The most poignant image of the race overall, however, might be this one of Van der Poel and Philipsen comforting Degenkolb, who they had caused to crash 15km from the finish. The German ended in seventh, but it could have been so much more
Israel Premier-Tech's Guillaume Boivin shows his battle scars. Ow.
A podium of mixed emotions. Just a year until the next weekend in hell.
