April 06, 2013 (Compiègne, France) – An apparent new record number of Canadian riders is poised to start in Sunday’s venerable Paris-Roubaix race. While changes are still possible to the tentative start list below, five Canadians were listed earlier today to compete in the April 7, one-day, 254.5km race from Compiègne to Roubaix near the Belgian border.

The five riders are:
– David Veilleux (Europcar)
– Svein Tuft (Orica GreenEDGE)
– Guillaume Boivin (Cannondale)
– Hugo Houle (AG2R La Mondiale)
– Dominique Rollin (Française des Jeux)

Note: the Paris Roubaix website removed the provisional team names at some point today – the most recent provisional start list is HERE. News reports in Quebec mention Boivin, Houle, and Veilleux (Tuft is not a Quebecer) participating in this year’s race, but not Rollin, who did not start at the Tour of Flanders either – so we suspect he’s not starting (both he and Tuft are not on the most recent provisional list either).

The Paris-Roubaix is one of the longest-running bicycle races worldwide, tracing its beginnings back to 1896 when German rider Josef Fischer (Diamant) won the event. Various nicknames for the race, famous for its cobblestones and rough terrain, are: Hell of the North, a Sunday in Hell, and the Queen of the Classics. The 2013 edition will also likely be famous for cold, wet weather.

The race originally started from Paris, but by 1968 the start was moved to Compiègne according to Wikipedia. The 2012 edition was won by Belgian Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), riding the 257.5km (the race distance can vary slightly from year-to-year) at an average speed of 43.476km.

But Boonen is out of this year’s race with an injury “… a fracture to the 10th rib of the left hemitorax, in addition to the injuries already known after his unfortunate crash at the Ronde on Sunday reads an Omega Pharma-Quick Step release. The clear favourite this year is Fabian Cancellara (Sui) RadioShack Leopard who won the Tour of Flanders last weekend and E3 Harelbeke on March 22.

Canada’s best-ever performance at Roubaix was in 1990 with Steve Bauer (then with 7-Eleven) taking a photo-finish second place behind Belgian Eddy Planckaert (Panasonic-Sportlife). Veilleux finished a strong 25th at the 2011 edition.

Wikipedia article here.