In the north of France, on the Belgian border, lies Roubaix. It is a town of about 100,000 inhabitants that in the 19th century was popularly known by the nickname of the city of a thousand chimneys, because it was an imported centre of the textile industry. Today, the sector is already derisory and the city's fame has vanished. However, they still have a stripe: among their favourite sons is Michael Leclercq, the founder of Decathlon. The history of the empire of clothing and accessories for all kinds of sports that has spread across 78 countries, has nearly 1,750 establishments and is capable of turning over 15.6 billion euros in one year, begins there, in 1961.