Carrefour de l'Arbre, officially Pavé de Luchin, is a 2.1 km cobbled road in the municipalities of

Camphin-en-Pévèle Camphin-en-Pévèle () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic. The communes coo ...

, Baisieux-Sin and

Gruson Gruson () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is part of the Métropole Européenne de Lille. Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes of the Nord department of ...

, in the Nord department of Northern France. The location was the setting of the

Battle of Bouvines The Battle of Bouvines was fought on 27 July 1214 near the town of Bouvines in the County of Flanders. It was the concluding battle of the Anglo-French War of 1213–1214. Although estimates on the number of troops vary considerably among mo ...

, which ended the

Anglo-French War The Anglo-French Wars were a series of conflicts between England (and after 1707, Britain) and France, including: Middle Ages High Middle Ages * Anglo-French War (1109–1113) – first conflict between the Capetian Dynasty and the House of Norma ...

in 1214. Today, the road is best known from the cycling classic

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 th ...

, where it has often proved decisive due to its proximity to Roubaix and cumulative difficulty.

Characteristics

Carrefour de l'Arbre ''( en, Crossroads of the Tree)'' is on open land between Gruson and Camphin-en-Pévèle. The road starts westward from Camphin-en-Pévèle along the ''Rue de Cysoing'' towards ''Camphin de l'Arbre''. The first half consists of a series of corners over highly irregular pavé towards Luchin. The second half starts after crossing an asphalt road and finishes at the ''Café de l'Arbre'' restaurant.

Paris–Roubaix

The road is one of three "five-star" pavé sectors of Paris–Roubaix, together with

Mons-en-Pévèle Mons-en-Pévèle () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic. The communes coope ...

and the

Trouée d'Arenberg The Trouée d'Arenberg or Tranchée de Wallers-Arenberg (English: ''Trench of Arenberg'') is a 2.3 km long cobbled road in the municipality of Wallers in Northern France, in the Nord (French department), Département Nord. The road's offic ...

. It is considered one of the hardest passages of the race because of the bad state of the cobbles. As it comes at 15 km from the finish in

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 ...

it is a pivotal location of the event and has often proved decisive.

References

{{reflist Cobbled streets Paris–Roubaix Nord-Pas-de-Calais Anglo-French wars Wars involving France