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 'Cycling monument, Monuments' ...

single-day cycling classic, was held on 14 April 1996. Classics specialist

Johan Museeuw Johan Museeuw (born 13 October 1965) is a retired Belgian professional road bicycle racer, road racing cyclist who was a professional from 1988 until 2004. Nicknamed ''The Lion of Flanders'', he was particularly successful in the cobbled classic ...

won his first ''Hell of the North'' classic; his team mates Gianluca Bortolami and Andrea Tafi completed the all-Mapei podium. The race started in

Compiègne Compiègne (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Oise Departments of France, department of northern France. It is located on the river Oise (river), Oise, and its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois'' (). Administration Compiègne is t ...

and finished on the velodrome of

Roubaix Roubaix ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, depar ...

, 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 tea ...

, Gianluca Bortolami, 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 easement ...

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 Ausiliari per l ...

’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" (song), ...

, 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 . The outspoken Lefevre was the driving force behind one of the most successful cycling teams in the wo ...

, the team’s

directeur sportif A ''directeur sportif'' (, ) is a person directing a cycling team during a road bicycle racing event. It is seen as the equivalent to a field manager in baseball, or a head coach in football. At professional level, a directeur sportif follows t ...

, from the company headquarters in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. 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 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

1996 in road cycling Paris-Roubaix April 1996 sports events in France