(Photo: Chris Henry)

Road Bike Action decided to ask a few former Paris-Roubaix winners what they thought of Tuesday's stage 2, which includes seven cobblestone sections in the final 40km between Wanze, Belgium and Arenberg Port du Hainaut, France. 

Opinions on the value of such a treacherous stage varied among journalists and riders alike at the Tour; some looked forward to "le spectacle", while others felt the risk was an unnecessary diversion from more traditional Tour racing.

Here's what four masters of the cobbles had to say:

Bernard Hinault (Paris-Roubaix winner, 1981)

We've had stages like this before, but even longer. I think it's an important part of cycling. You will have some riders who are specialists on the flats and the cobbles and the climbers won't be too happy. But everyone has to do it and they need to find a solution to be well-placed.

There's no secret to it. You need to pay attention and always be up front. But since everyone wants to be up front, it gets dangerous.

We had a super stage with 27km of cobbles in 1979 and in 1980 we did 50km. Nothing like this stage. I won one of those stages and lost the other, but that's racing.

Marc Madiot (Paris-Roubaix winner, 1985)

What's important for the riders is to study the kilometers leading up to the pavé. It's good to have stages like this in the Tour. We never ask the question of whether or not the mountains should be included, so why not this?

A stage win in the Tour is always prestigious, so this is no more or less prestigious than winning a classic. 

Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle (Paris-Roubaix winner, 1992, 1993)

For me, among all the favorites for the Tour, the ones who I think will be most at ease will be Lance Armstrong and Cadel Evans. They are used to riding the classics, they've done the Tour of Flanders and they know how to get over the cobbles. Armstrong has a team that can ride hard and stay up front.

In the Tour there are two races in one. There are riders who are experienced in Paris-Roubaix, who want to win this stage in the Tour de France, and have no [GC] leader to protect. After that, there are riders who know how to ride the pavé, like Cancellara and O'Grady, but they will have to protect the Schlecks.

This race is not is not the same as Paris-Roubaix. It will be controlled a bit by those riders who need to look after their team leaders. If the leaders puncture or have a crash, they will need teammates around them to help them get back. 

Johan Museeuw (Paris-Roubaix winner, 1996, 2000, 2002)

I don't think it's appropriate to have a stage like this in a three week stage race like the Tour de France. You can win or you can lose in a stage like that. I know what it means to ride the cobbles, and if you don't have experience to ride them - and especially to come into them fast - that's really the problem. That's when the crashes happen. 

I think Cancellara will have to look after the Schlecks... But he's a winner, so he may do the job for himself. I think Armstrong is the best among the favorites on the cobbles. He has the best team, he has the experience, so he knows how to ride a stage like that. Maybe he can take some time there but he may lose some time in the mountain stages.