• The race is modeled after the Paris-Roubaix, one of the oldest European races of the professional road cycling calendar. First run on Easter, April 19, 1896, this 260-kilometer race is famous for taking riders over multiple sections of cobblestoned roads between Paris and Roubaix, in northern France.
• In the fall of 2001, when Rich Pierce, St. Louis, an amateur bicycle racer, decided to develop a long, hard and technical road race that would evoke the spring classics in Europe, he posted a message on the stlbiking.com web site, asking where he could find pave, or brick, in a rural setting. He was told to visit Hillsboro, the site of the annual July 4th Biathlon, which starts and ends on North Main St., an historic brick street.
• Pierce contacted Richard and Nancy Slepicka, publishers of The Montgomery County News in Hillsboro. With their help, Pierce mapped out a 22-mile race course that includes rural roads with steep descents, challenging climbs and twisting curves, plus a hilly in-town loop over rough brick streets.
• The first Hillsboro-Roubaix Spring Classic, in late March 2002, attracted 245 riders. At year-end, it was voted "Best Road Road" in the St. Louis area. It has won that top ranking by stlbiking.com voters every year since.
• Racers compete according to skill level in seven classes. The top class of men ride four laps, 88 miles, in less than four hours. Racers in the remaining classes -- for men, women and juniors -- ride three or two laps, 66 or 44 miles, respectively. Top finishers in each class are awarded trophies and cash prizes based on their placing and the overall purse.
• In 2006, the Hillsboro-Roubaix was designated as an Illinois Cup race by the Illinois Cycling Association.
• The race, sanctioned by the U.S. Cycling Association, annually attracts 350-400 racers and racing teams from Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa and other states. It is now the largest single-day road race in the Midwest.
• The race has received enthusiastic support from the community. Hillsboro Police Dept. and its Auxiliary Police force control traffic around the in-town loop, and volunteer course marshals monitor all intersections in the rural areas. Hillsboro Free Methodist Church provides its building and parking areas as the race headquarters. Montgomery County Sheriff's Office provides a deputy for one heavy-traffic rural intersection, and Hillsboro Area Ambulance Service has an ambulance and crew on standby at the race throughout the day.
• The Montgomery County News was the principal local sponsor of the 2002, 2003 and 2004 races. Its successor, The Journal-News coordinated the 2005, 2006 and 2007 races. About two dozen other local businesses annually provide cash or in-kind sponsorships to help cover race expenses.
• Montgomery County Cancer Association will coordinate and provide volunteers for the 2008 Hillsboro-Roubaix, on March 29. Donations from local co-sponsors not used for expenses, plus donations from individual racers and racing teams, will benefit the MCCA.
