Cobblestones. Cobblestones. Cobbles. Coarse pieces of stone laid out in a set pattern. Like farm roads or sometimes for passing traffic. Mostly poorly maintained, with large holes in them. Stones sticking out crookedly. Almost impassable in winter. In summer, a source of dust and misery. The lap often makes its appearance here, looking for spectacle between dull sprinter stages. Lars Boom once took his stage win here in the rain. Sponsor Belkin was delighted. In more recent editions, there was mostly a lot of complaining about the balance between tour interests, team interests and other drivel. Rather 200km of flat tight asphalt than 10 kilometres of hotse-budding-begonia road. Cycling over cobblestones is something for spring anyway.
Lille is no Roubaix
The city of Lille, or Lille in French, is emerging as a weekend destination. The city is on the rise with a vibrant, authentic centre, a shopping mecca and some culture too. Ideal for a stopover on the Thalys. The popularity of local football club LOSC will also contribute to extra atmosphere on match days. The museums, zoo and associated citadel complete the picture. Whether it's a stark contrast to Roubaix, I'm not sure. Roubaix is raw, but it has just that one piece of historical ground, where every cycling fan wants to have been once. The cycling track, the showers, the smell and feel of 'Roubaix'. That's where the 'Lille Metropole' pales a little. Although Roubaix does form the MEL together with Tourcoing, Mouscron and Lille.
Stage 5, but for tourists
The men of the pro peloton will have quite a few cobbled sections to contend with as they head from Lille via Wasquehal (km 0) into the farm fields of northern France. With almost 20 kilometres of cobbles, but not including the most famous strips from Paris-Roubaix, it is a hefty challenge. For the cycling tourist, there is a route from 102 kilometres created. Also note that this route does NOT start in Lille, Compiegne or Roubaix. The start is lodged in Arenberg, in the middle of nowhere, but in the heart of cobbled races. The forest of Wallers, the Trouee d'Arenberg is real cycling history. This beautiful lane, where in earlier years riders dived over each other in bad weather is also the start of your route. Taking photos is allowed, perhaps even a must.
Haveluy - Helesmes
We made the route a little nicer, cycling the stretch from Haveluy - Helesmes into it. That's another little extra bit of enjoying and bouncing over the pebbles. Make sure you ride the route on a nice summer day. Then everything is more manageable and you will have fewer falls and slides. The route passes through nondescript hamlets like Auberchicourt, where the boulangerie and café are the mainstays of daily life. A 'petit-caf' and a picard and the worries are over again. No romantic, Parisian scenes here. No here people still really work. Many streets here bear the name '8 mai 1945'. The end of the war was 3 days later in France than it was here. The pain of that time was also felt here.
Further into the meadows
In total, you will be presented with 18 kilometres of cobbles. Rest assured: Mons-en-Pévèle has been left out and the other cobbled sections are not of the most painful kind either. Nevertheless, 102 kilometres over these roads is a hefty challenge. Pretty soon, a nice stretch of cobblestone looms between Fressain and Villairs-au-Tertre. After that, you actually circle the best stretches and follow the Nord côte Vélo cycle route. You do ride through Hem, a well-known strip in Roubaix, but you leave it aside here. It heads towards Cambrai, where you turn back just before the town and get to bounce over the cobblestones again.
A loop
We don't actually ride a real lap, but more of a loop. At Emerchicourt, we get some nice cobbles again. The only thing that attracts more attention in Emerchicourt than a stray cyclist is the little town hall, which doubles as a media library. The big music key on the outside is as waning as Hardenberg's town hall. Tastes differ. Boulevard de la Republique does not have the allure of a Boulevard Haussmann. To say that is an understatement.
Wasnes-au-Bac
The route heads towards the secteur of Chateau d'eau, where the water castle is mainly a water tower that graces the strip. The water tower of Wasnes-au-Bac. shoot me. The cobbled strip, on the other hand, is a gem. Not too difficult, but doable. With the right tyre pressure, definitely not a problem.
Warlaing - almost home
At Warlaing, perhaps the longest stretch awaits you. Beautiful in the meadows. with a good length, this is a great end to a day in 'L'enfer du Nord'. Although the route has two more nice stretches in store for you after that, this can rightly be called a finale. Komoot thinks that after 104 kilometres you have had quite a few stretches of 'impassable terrain' in front of you. We dare to differ.
Route
You can find this Tour Route and all other tour routes in our collection on Komoot. A nice move as far as we are concerned and it provides a little more linkage to the real course. Although this route runs completely the other way, but oh well. With the French stroke shall we say.
