A massive support network is needed to put on an event like Paris-Roubaix, from team cars and neutral support vehicles to media coverage - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
The crowd at the start in Compiegne are a mixed bunch - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
GreenEDGE sponsors Subaru supply the team with 4WD Legacys - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
AG2R's Lloyd Mondory's parcours notes were particularly detailed - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Movistar used Volvo XC70s to tame the cobbles - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Euskaltel were riding some prototype Vittoria tyres on their Ambrosio rims - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
An Astana mechanic makes final tyre pressure adjustments - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Astana's Assan Bazayev still favours a negative rise stem on his tiny Roubaix SL3, and fewer spokes than most - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
This trusty photographer's moto has seen many races - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Another beefed up press moto - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
A Movistar Pinarello fitted with a Campy Tech Lab labelled front mech, neatly mounted battery and SRM measuring system - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
The same bike had a Campy Tech Lab rear mech too - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
One Cofodis rider at least was relishing the challenge to come - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
A more suitable motorbike for the blackboard crew - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Skoda's Octavia Scout was the car of choice for Katusha - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
The Garde Républicaine who protect French races rode their usual motorbikes until the first sector of pave at 97.5km and then handed over to colleagues riding more suitable trail bikes - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
This marshal's motorbike seemed less suited to the conditions - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Radioshack used their usual Nissan Qashqai team cars - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Radioshack parked their team cars around the bus like a Wild West circle of wagons. We should've guessed Armstrong was in there! - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Euskaltel's 4WD Skoda Octavia Scout was well suited to the cobbles ahead - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
This Ridley had its parcours details on some white cloth tape - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
The Helium fork didn't allow for great tyre clearance - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
A closer look at Liquigas-Cannondale's disc-equipped talking point. The Avid BB7 road calliper is very neatly mounted and has a relatively small disc rotor - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
The rear end of this bike looks almost unchanged from the cyclo-cross frame, with long chainstays and huge clearances - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Although fitted with 23mm Mavic rubber, the Super X road frame has far more clearance than any Paris-Roubaix tyre could need - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
The addition of the top tube disc cable is the only change from normal - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
This Wilier looks to be a modified Mortirolo carbon cyclo-cross frame drilled for a calliper. The long-reach Shimano brake still has its delivery tape on - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
The Wilier uses the same long-reach calliper up front, but with less clearance the pads are near the top of their adjustment slots - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Imanol Erviti of Movistar shows his taped fingers while sticking on his parcours crib sheet. Taping can help reduce the effects of vibration through the joints - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
BMC riders await the race start in front of the signing-on podium - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Local club cyclists assemble for the ceremonial race roll-out - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Riders look more nervous than usual at the Compiegne start - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Riders roll away from the start in Compiegne - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
The two final vehicles have trailers to carry the bikes of abandoning riders - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Leaving nothing to chance, the Garde Républicaine take a spare motorbike - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Argos-Shimano spare wheels out on the course - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
A Belgian fan reverts to type with images of Duvel beer bottles and a packet of frites on his hat. We can only imagine what he'll be doing with that megaphone! - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Maybe this team helper is also a paramedic - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
AG2R employ helpers of all ages for this race - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
A Europcar team helper with spare wheels in sector 17 - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Saur Sojasun's four-legged supporters - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
A Katusha team helper with spare wheels in sector 24 - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
A Farnese Vini helper waits with spare wheels, just in case - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Once the cobbled sectors begin, the road based Garde Républicaine escort hand over to their trail bike riding colleagues - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Sky's Matthew Hayman shows nerves of steel by taking a drink during the pave - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Watching the race out in the fields is a unique experience - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Movistar's Imanol Erviti takes a rear wheel from a teammate after puncturing as it's much quicker than waiting for the team car - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
After giving his teammate Erviti a wheel, this Movistar rider finally gets going again with a replacement, only for his chain to get caught up - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
A Cofidis Fan Club member acts as an extra spare wheel man in a sector of pave. There are so many sectors that a team can't cover them all with their own personnel - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
When the race is as flat as Paris-Roubaix, spectators will take advantage of any high spots! - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
The main command vehicle for the Garde Républicaine at this race is a Land Rover Defender - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
One of the Mavic neutral service motos with wheel rack and pillion mechanic holding spares - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
One of the Mavic neutral service cars in the gap between break and peloton - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Press motos spend all day in clouds of dust, which gets into everything - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
The blackboard motorbike in a hurry crossing the gap up to the leading group - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
The race organisation cars were unmodified Skoda Superbs - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Can you imagine travelling along at 45kph while holding a heavy TV camera inches from the cobbles, right in front of the favourites, and not looking where you're going? - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Ricardo Garcia of Euskaltel suffered a broken seatpot clamp - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Euskaltel's Garcia gets pushed off on a new machine - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Those at the rear of the peloton demonstrate their more cautious line choices - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Some well prepared French fans - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
This second-placed Saur Sojasun rider is clearly comfortable cornering on the dirt as he lifts the front wheel mid corner to change direction! - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Tom Boonen takes the applause as he rides his first lap of the Roubaix velodrome - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
The group behind Boonen start the sprint for second place - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Lars Boom finishes the race on his cyclo-cross bike, totally spent, in sixth place - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Tom Boonen, Sebastien Turgot and Alessandro Ballan on the podium - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
One of very few damaged team cars in this year's race. Europcar obviously had a friendly tap from behind - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Gregory Henderson of Lotto Belisol returns his jammed Ridley - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
This Team Sky Jaguar X-Type looked to have raised suspension for this race - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
This is a Team Sky Jaguar X-Type with normal ride height - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
A pile of Saxo Bank Specialized Roubaix machines in need of a wash - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
No matter how much they scrub, this Roubaix dust won't come out - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Luke Roberts' Specialized with a flat tubular - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Luke Roberts had the only two-part parcours details we saw - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
The state of one of BMC's new GF01s after the race - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
One BMC team car showing the day's dirt - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
It wasn't only riders who suffered punctures out on the course - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
This Lotto Belisol rider has trimmed the right heel of his Pearl Izumi shoe - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
The AG2R team's stack of wheels for service - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Cycling teams are masters at squeezing their vehicles into the tightest spaces - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
A Katusha Canyon showing the effects of a dusty day - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
The Katusha mechanics' bus set up shop outside these houses. We hope the owners were cycling fans - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
This Bretagne-Schuller KTM Di2 rear derailleur suffered some crash damage - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
This MCipollini bike sported a bent lever and unravelled tape - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
GreenEDGE mechanics cleaning their team bikes - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Some of the wheels used by GreenEDGE in the race - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Vacansoleil had three models at the race – the Impulso, Infinito and Oltre. We're not sure if the Oltre was raced or just there as a spare - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Chainslap marks on this Vacansoleil rider's Bianchi Impulso - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
The endless dust has aged this Bianchi's drivetrain - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
A Bianchi having a well needed clean - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
A TRP calliper on a Saur-Sojasun Time frame - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
The Saur-Sojasun mechanics set up shop in a bus stop - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
After the race, the Mavic staff visited all of the teams to swap over the many wheels which were loaned by neutral service - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
These Quickstep fans favour a 1970s theme - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Mavic transport their neutral service motorbikes in this neat trailer - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
Washing a bike is quicker when your kit is all to hand. - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar
We’ve shown you the level of support WorldTour teams require while preparing for the most brutal one-day race on the calendar, and now we take a look at what happens on race day. From final bike tweaks to vehicles that are brought in specially for this unique challenge, the race convoy at Paris-Roubaix resembles no other.
Rugged four-wheel-drive vehicles have mostly replaced the traditional fitting of sump guards to team cars, although typically, Sky seem to have found another solution. Out on the course are dozens of team personnel and helpers, ready to assist their riders in the tortuous pavé sectors, when a support vehicle could be some distance behind. Then after it’s all over, the team mechanics are faced with one of their biggest cleanup and repair tasks of the season.
Astana's assan bazayev still favours a negative rise stem on his tiny roubaix sl3, and fewer spokes than most: - Robin Wilmott/BikeRadar