How hard is it to hold a pro’s speed on Paris-Roubaix cobblestones?

Few races strike fear into the heart of professional cyclists quite like Paris-Roubaix. One of cycling’s five Monuments, the race's 250km-plus distance is a mammoth challenge alone, but it is the cobblestones hidden within those kilometres that have gained the race its brutal reputation.

Battered and worn over decades and, in some cases, centuries, these roads were once the veins that linked farms in northern France with the outside world. Now they play centre stage to arguably the most chaotic stretches of racing on the calendar.

Large, uneven and relentlessly unyielding, it takes incredible resilience just to conquer the cobbles and finish the race, let alone roll over the finish line at the Roubaix Velodrome first.

Making the feat of completing the race more impressive, the pros don’t simply just ride over the cobbles, they glide over them at speeds in excess of 40 kph, speeds that are unreachable for most cyclists, even on smooth tarmac.

• Read more: The Oreo test: How are the Arenberg cobbles shaping up for Paris-Roubaix?

To find out just how hard it is for an amateur cyclist to ride at pro-level speeds on the cobbles, we sent Conor Dunne and James ‘Hank’ Lowsley-Williams to northern France to conduct an experiment. Their task was to try and hold the wheel of Lawrence Naesen on one of the toughest sectors of cobbles in the race: Carrefour de l'Arbre.

Each cobble sector in Paris-Roubaix is given a rating, from one through to five stars. Only three of them own the five-star tag, and Carrefour de l'Arbre, so cobbles don’t come much harder.

Completing the section would be tough, but sticking to Naesen’s wheel would be almost impossible. The Belgian was born and bred on the cobbles, and although he retired from the WorldTour peloton at the end of 2023, the 31-year-old is still plying his trade as a professional cyclist on the gravel scene.

So, would our dynamic duo be a match for Naesen on the cobblestones of Paris-Roubaix? Watch the full video at the top of this page to find out.

Here at GCN, we are constantly putting our presenters to the test in new challenges. Check out all of these challenges on the GCN website