The classic one-day cycling race known as “The Hell of the North” is Paris–Roubaix.
First held in 1896, Paris–Roubaix runs across northern France from the area north of Paris toward Roubaix, near the Belgian border. It is famous for its rough pavé sectors—granite setts that create punishing vibration, mud, dust, punctures, and mechanical failures. The race is one of cycling’s five Monuments, the sport’s most prestigious one-day classics.
The nickname has a historical origin as well as a sporting one. After the First World War, journalists and organizers surveying the devastated route described the landscape as hellish. The phrase became attached to the race, even though its cobbled roads later became the defining sporting challenge.
Paris–Roubaix is also called the Queen of the Classics and the Easter race. Its finish traditionally takes place in the Roubaix Velodrome, where riders complete laps before the winner receives a cobblestone trophy. The Tour of Flanders is another cobbled classic, but it is not the race identified by this nickname.