Lille is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the Nord department, and the main city of the European Metropolis of Lille.
Roubaix 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 from its textile industries, with most of the same characteristic features as those of English and American boom towns. This former new town has faced many challenges linked to deindustrialisation such as urban decay, with their related economic and social implications, since its major industries fell into decline by the middle of the 1970s. Located to the northeast of Lille, adjacent to Tourcoing, Roubaix is the chef-lieu of two cantons and the third largest city in the French region of Hauts-de-France ranked by population with nearly 99,000 inhabitants.
Tourcoing is a city in northern France on the Belgian border. It is designated municipally as a commune within the department of Nord. Located to the north-northeast of Lille, adjacent to Roubaix, Tourcoing is the chef-lieu of two cantons and the fourth largest city in the French region of Hauts-de-France ranked by population with about 97,000 inhabitants.
Villeneuve-d'Ascq is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. With more than 60,000 inhabitants and 50,000 students, it is one of the main cities of the Métropole Européenne de Lille and the largest in area (27.46 km2) after Lille. It is also one of the main cities of the Hauts-de-France region.
The Métropole Européenne de Lille is the métropole, an intercommunal structure, composed by a network of big cities whose major city is the city of Lille. It is located in the Nord department, in the Hauts-de-France region, northern France – bordering both the Flemish and Walloon regions of Belgium. It was created in January 2015, replacing the previous Communauté urbaine de Lille, and covers that part of the Lille metropolitan area that lies in France. Its area is 671.9 km2. Its population was 1,179,050 in 2019, of which 234,475 in Lille proper. The annual budget of the métropole is €1,865 billion (2018).
Team TotalEnergies is a professional road bicycle racing team that competes as a UCI ProTeam in UCI Continental Circuits races, and UCI World Tour races when invited as a wild card entry. In previous years, the team was known as Brioches La Boulangère, Bonjour, Bouygues Télécom, and Bbox Bouygues Telecom and Europcar. The 2015 season was the last under the sponsorship of Europcar. The team has been sponsored by Direct Énergie since 2016.
The Stade Pierre-Mauroy, also known as the Decathlon Arena – Stade Pierre-Mauroy for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-use retractable roof stadium in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France, that opened in August 2012. It has a seating capacity of 50,186 and is the home stadium of Lille OSC. Initially named Grand Stade Lille Métropole, the stadium was renamed on 21 June 2013, just after the death of the former Mayor of Lille and former Prime Minister of France Pierre Mauroy (1928–2013).
Van Rysel–Roubaix–Lille Métropole is a French UCI Continental cycling team founded in 2007. For the 2019 season, the team secured additional sponsorship from Natura4Ever, later rebranded as Xelliss in 2021.
Thomas Boudat is a French racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team Van Rysel–Roubaix–Lille Métropole. In June 2017, he was named in the startlist for the Tour de France.
Julien Antomarchi is a French former professional cyclist, who rode professionally between 2011 and 2021 for Team Type 1–Sanofi, Team La Pomme Marseille 13 and Xelliss–Roubaix–Lille Métropole.
Paris–Roubaix Juniors is a single-day road bicycle race held annually in April in northern France for junior cyclists ahead of the senior Paris–Roubaix classic race. It is organised by the Vélo-Club de Roubaix Lille Métropole, who organize the under-23s version, Paris–Roubaix Espoirs.
Thomas Denis is a French track and road cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team Van Rysel–Roubaix–Lille Métropole. Representing France at international competitions, Denis won the gold medal at the 2016 UEC European Track Championships in the team pursuit.
Christophe Masson is a French road bicycle racer, who rides for French amateur team OC Val d'Oise and works as a directeur sportif for UCI Continental team Philippe Wagner–Bazin. Masson rode professionally between 2007 and 2008, and again from 2016 to 2022, for the Differdange–Apiflo Vacances, Veranclassic–Ago, WB Aqua Protect Veranclassic, Natura4Ever–Roubaix–Lille Métropole, Cambodia Cycling Academy and Geofco–Doltcini Matériel-vélo.com teams. He competed in the 2017 Liège–Bastogne–Liège, finishing in 124th place.
Jordan Levasseur is a French cyclist, who currently rides for French amateur team VC Rouen 76.
Jérémy Leveau is a French cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team Van Rysel–Roubaix–Lille Métropole. He previously rode for UCI Professional Continental team Delko–Marseille Provence for 2018 and 2019.
The University of Lille is a French public research university based in Lille, Hauts-de-France. It has its origins in the University of Douai (1559), and resulted from the merger of three universities – Lille 1 University of Science and Technology, Lille 2 University of Health and Law, and Charles de Gaulle University – Lille III in 2018. With more than 74,000 students, it is one of the largest universities in France and one of the largest French-speaking universities in the world.
Emiel Vermeulen is a Belgian cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team BEAT Cycling.
Valentin Tabellion is a French professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team Van Rysel–Roubaix–Lille Métropole. He rode in the men's team pursuit event at the 2020 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Berlin, Germany.
Rait Ärm is an Estonian road cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team Van Rysel–Roubaix–Lille Métropole. He finished 3rd in the under-23 road race at the 2019 European Road Championships.
Samuel Leroux is a French professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Continental team Van Rysel–Roubaix–Lille Métropole.
