The 94th running of the

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the 'Monuments' or classics of the ...

single-day

cycling classic The classic cycle races are the most prestigious one-day professional road cycling races in the international calendar. Some of these events date back to the 19th century. They are normally held at roughly the same time each year. The five most ...

, was held on 14 April 1996. Classics specialist

Johan Museeuw Johan Museeuw (born 13 October 1965) is a retired Belgian professional road racing cyclist who was a professional from 1988 until 2004. Nicknamed ''The Lion of Flanders'', he was particularly successful in the cobbled classics of Flanders and No ...

won his first ''Hell of the North'' classic; his team mates

Gianluca Bortolami Gianluca Bortolami (born 28 August 1968) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist. Bortolami's greatest feats was capturing the monumental classic Tour of Flanders in 2001 and winning the 1994 UCI Road World Cup season championship. ...

and Andrea Tafi completed the all-Mapei podium. The race started in

Compiègne Compiègne (; pcd, Compiène) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. It is located on the river Oise. Its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois''. Administration Compiègne is the seat of two cantons: * Compiègne-1 (with 19 c ...

and finished on the velodrome of

Roubaix Roubaix ( or ; nl, Robaais; vls, Roboais) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial commune in the Nord department, which grew rapidly in the 19th century ...

, covering a distance of . The race served as the third leg of the 1996 UCI World Cup. Propelled by tailwind, the race had the fastest average speed (43.31 km/h) since Paris–Roubaix was moved to the more difficult easterly route in 1968. It was the 100th anniversary edition of Paris–Roubaix.

Mapei podium

dominated the race with three riders on the podium. Four Mapei riders – Italians

Franco Ballerini Franco Ballerini (11 December 1964 – 7 February 2010) was an Italian road racing cyclist. Born in Florence, his greatest exploits as a rider came with his two victories in the cycling classic Paris–Roubaix, riding for the Mapei cycling ...

, Andrea Tafi and Belgian

– broke clear at 86 km from the finish. Ballerini, the winner of the previous edition, punctured shortly after; his team mates subsequently powering on to

. Museeuw won the race on the

velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate Track tran ...

in Roubaix, without sprinting, before Bortolami and Tafi who completed the all-Mapei podium. All three were riding Colnago C40 bicycles. With the break 15 km from the finish,

Mapei Mapei S.p.A. () is an Italian limited company founded in 1937 in Milan that manufactures chemical products for the building industry. History Innovation and research The company was founded and originally called ''Materiali Autarchici per ...

’s managing director,

Giorgio Squinzi Giorgio may refer to: * Castel Giorgio, ''comune'' in Umbria, Italy * Giorgio (name), an Italian given name and surname * Giorgio Moroder, or Giorgio, Italian record producer ** ''Giorgio'' (album), an album by Giorgio Moroder * "Giorgio" (son ...

, called

Patrick Lefevere Patrick Lefevere (born 6 January 1955) is a Belgian former professional cyclist, who currently serves as the general manager of UCI WorldTeam . According to the ranking site ''Cycling Ranking'' he is the most successful cycling manager in histo ...

, the team’s

directeur sportif A ''directeur sportif'' ( French for sporting director, although the original French term is often used in English-language media; plural ''directeurs sportifs'') is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event. It is se ...

, from the company headquarters in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

. Squinzi instructed Lefevere that Museeuw was to win the race. Despite objections, primarily from Tafi, both Italians accepted the order and Museeuw claimed his first victory in Paris–Roubaix.

Results

14-04-1996: Compiègne–Roubaix, 263.5 km.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paris-Roubaix 1996

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

1996 in road cycling 1996 in French sport Paris-Roubaix April 1996 sports events in Europe