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For Kuiper, Boonen and Terpstra, love for ‘Hell’ displaces the pain
AMSTERDAM – The feeling of your organs being shaken in all directions doesn’t happen more intensely in any road race than in Paris-Roubaix. The images of mud-stained and exhausted faces betray the heroism. You love the ‘hell run’ or hate the spartan cycle race with 55 kilometers of unforgiving cobblestones. In the run-up to the 119th edition, Hennie Kuiper, Tom Boonen and Niki Terpstra tell how their love for Hell the pain recedes into the background. All three agree: you only notice the impact after the race. “I once felt like I was peeing razor blades,” says four-time winner Boonen.