Lest we forget: Sector 23

Photographs by Luke Batten
Edited by Patrick Kenny

Days before the race we find the cobbles at night. We are a bit drunk, it is late, some stars shine overhead. On borrowed chinese-made mountain bikes we ride from one end of the sector to the other. We bounce along on very fat tires thinking this race really is crazy. It is an easy decision, on sector 23 we will start following Paris-Roubaix. It is going to be dusty. We just hope to catch the race 3 or 4 times before the velodrome.