At around 4:20pm local time, time seemed to stand still in the middle of the Roubaix Velodrome, as Wout van Aert crossed the finish line first at the end of Paris-Roubaix, ahead of Tadej Pogačar. The crowd went wild, Van Aert was mobbed, and the business of explaining the race went on apace. Less than two hours later, time stood still again, this time as Franziska Koch out-sprinted Marianne Vos at the end of Paris-Roubaix Femmes, and the reaction ensued once more.

For the first five editions of Paris-Roubaix Femmes, the organisers, ASO, had done something almost unique in WorldTour racing: hold the women’s race on a different day to the men’s race. It was something special, almost magical, giving the race a chance to breathe, to exist on its own, and for us in the media to tell its full story, and not be distracted by something else.

This year, both races happened on the same day, along with both the junior men’s and under-23 men’s events. It was a step backwards. It might be the norm in cycling for both races to happen on the same day, as at the Tour of Flanders or Milan-San Remo, but it deprived us of the beauty of both races having centre stage.

There was justifiable outrage at the lack of full television coverage of the women’s race, with only around 50km of racing shown; with it being described to CW as a “massive affront to women's cycling” by Deena Blacking, the managing director of The Cyclists’ Alliance. This only grew louder on the day. Fans on the course might have got a better deal, seeing two elite races rather than one, but it meant a worse deal for anyone not there, watching from home or hoping to read about it after.

With both races happening on the same day, at the same time in parts, it might not have been logistically possible for enough camera motorbikes and all the other infrastructure needed to show them live simultaneously, but that feels like an excuse after the fact. To be clear, this a decision of the organisers, not the broadcasters, some of whom, like TNT Sports, would like to show the women’s race in full.

As well as the reduced TV coverage, there were fewer photos of the women’s race than the men’s and fewer journalists covering the women’s race, many consumed by deadlines to file from the men’s race. It felt, unlike the first five editions, that Paris-Roubaix Femmes was in the shadow of Paris-Roubaix. French newspaper L’Équipe on Monday had seven pages on Van Aert’s triumph and the men’s race, and less than half a page on Koch’s epic win.

Post-race, Carys Lloyd of Movistar explained her frustration: “Last year people were able to see a lot of the race, and I think it’s just a really big shame that we weren’t able to have that this year. Even more especially because the junior boys and the under-23 boys had a full live stream. That’s just ridiculous. We should be a priority against them. I think there’s still a long way to go.

“They don’t even have a junior women’s race, which is something I really wanted to do as a junior. I was excited originally when they said we were going to be on the same day as the men’s, but actually, to be honest, I preferred last year for the live stream and the coverage. I think that’s more important than us being on the same day as the men.”

While we strived to cover both elite races in the same depth as before, it was more difficult, with so much happening at the same time – to pull back the curtain, Van Aert was still giving his winner’s press conference just 40 minutes before the women’s race ended. That meant it was impossible to get the all-important quotes from the men’s winner and watch crucial parts of the women’s race. Likewise, it was nigh-on impossible to cover both the start of the men’s race in Compiègne, and the women’s race in Denain, 100km to the south.

Grace Brown, former pro cyclist turned president of The Cyclists’ Alliance said it succinctly: “This format is holding the women's race back. There's no room for growth and any attention that the women's race gets is then erroneously attributed to the men's race... ie ASO says that people will only watch women's racing because they are already there. But we know this is not true and that people will come or watch on TV when women's racing has its own space. Just look at the Tour de France Femmes last year.

“We acknowledge that maybe at the moment without a big sponsor, it doesn't stack up financially to hold the women's race on a separate day. But the goal needs to be to get back to that and not settle for this as the inevitable conclusion.”

Having been to two previous editions of Paris-Roubaix Femmes, the idea that people wouldn’t turn out for a standalone women’s race is just wrong and untrue, and it is a much worse look for the women’s race to have less exposure on the same day as the men’s. If it is the case that the money isn’t there to fund the separate days at the moment, then energy must be put into getting back there again.

As Brown said, we shouldn’t settle, and the race should be taken back out of the shadows. Roubaix was a model for how other races could work, over two separate days; we should not accept the pair being jammed into the same space as the norm.

I came away from Roubaix with adrenaline pumping, having tried to squeeze as much as possible out of two epic races, but with a sense of what could have been. The Roubaix weekend was magical with the two races on two different days. This year it felt different. I hope this isn’t the “inevitable conclusion”.

This piece is part of The Leadout, the offering of newsletters from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here.

If you want to get in touch with Adam, email adam.becket@futurenet.com.

Uno-X Mobility rider Kamilla Aasebø suffered a “small” bleed on the brain, as well as fractures to her jaw and elbow, in a crash at Paris-Roubaix Femmes on Sunday, her team has confirmed.

The 19-year-old Norwegian was one of around eight riders involved in a pile-up towards the end of the Orchies sector with 58km to go.

She did not go on to finish the race, and was instead taken to Lille University Hospital for medical attention.

A statement, released by Uno-X on Monday, revealed the extent of the teenager’s injuries: “Following her crash at Paris-Roubaix, initial assessments have confirmed that Kamilla has sustained fractures to her jaw and elbow, as well as a small bleed on the brain.

“At this stage, the bleed does not require surgery, but she will undergo operations on her jaw and elbow.

“We would like to thank the race medical team and the staff at Lille University Hospital for their care.

“Everyone on the team wishes Kamilla the very best in her recovery.”

Aasebø, a former cross-country skier, appears to have suffered the worst injuries of the riders involved in the crash.

VolkerWessels’ Amber van der Hulst was captured by the TV cameras lying face down, motionless in the dirt at the side of the cobbled sector. She wrote after the race on Instagram that she sustained a concussion and some wounds, and was “relieved about how I got off”.

Shari Bossuyt (AG Insurance-Soudal) and Chloé Dygert (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) also had to abandon the race after coming down in the same crash; neither rider sustained fractures, their teams later confirmed.

Victory in the race ultimately went to FDJ United-SUEZ's Franziska Koch who, though outnumbered by Marianne Vos and Pauline Ferrand Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) in the finale, sprinted to win in a photo-finish in the velodrome.

Nothing is predictable at the end of Paris-Roubaix Femmes. The best rider of all time, the winner of more than 250 bike races, in a situation which seems perfectly suited to her, can be out-sprinted by a rider who has only ever won thrice before. Franziska Koch can win, and Marianne Vos can lose.

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider has almost won it all, and yet in Roubaix – a race which is almost tailored for this multi-discipline world champion, who has won endlessly for two decades – she can't seem to get it across the line. Vos has raced five times: second, 10th, fourth twice, and now second again.

This time, in particular, the race situation was in Vos's favour; with 50km to go, she was in the front of the race with her teammate Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, the defending champion, and an isolated Koch. It was no fait accompli, but a betting person would have felt confident staking their money on Vos.

However, it didn't come to pass, with the pair unable to distance their German rival, but also with the FDJ United-SUEZ rider seemingly not tiring, despite trying to break them up.

"In hindsight, we probably could have done things differently, but she also made some great attacks herself," Vos said in her press conference. "I’m very thankful for Pauline, all the efforts she did, to make the gap bigger, to keep pushing. I would have wanted to finish it off, but it is what it is."

Ferrand-Prévot, for her part, conceded that Koch was "a bit stronger at the end".

"For me, I was doubting a bit when Blanka Vas was with us," the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift winner said. "When we dropped Blanka, I thought, 'OK, it’s quite a good situation for us.' I wanted Marianne to save as much as possible and try to win a sprint.

"After such a hard race, you can’t be 100% sure that Marianne will win the sprint. We tried, but it’s also part of cycling: you can’t always win."

Tactics were not the only thing that complicated Vos's fifth attempt at Roubaix; her father, Henk, passed away just before last weekend's Tour of Flanders, and grief consumed her race preparations.

After pausing to find the right words, when asked about her difficult run-up, she said: "I tried to focus as much as possible on the race itself. With the team doing such an amazing job, and Pauline, I tried to focus on the task you need to do.

"Cycling has always been a big part of my life. I just wanted to try and make the best of the preparation under the circumstances. I was also just very happy to be here because it’s one of the most beautiful races of the season. Even though I knew it might not be the perfect preparation, I just wanted to give everything I had today.

"It’s an in-between feeling, which is a weird feeling. Maybe one day it will be closer to one or another. I don’t know what to feel yet."

She added: "We miss him, just calling, having a small WhatsApp or whatever. In a way, you just try and focus on what you need, and have to do. It’s what I always do. There is enough to focus on to mostly think about that."

It was the sad situation which brought Ferrand-Prévot into this race, one that was not on her calendar originally: "When I knew her father passed away I called the team and said I would like to race Roubaix to try and support Marianne, to help her in this moment. I knew it was a dream for her to win, and I just wanted to win for her father.

"I had such good memories with them, and for me it was to say bye to him and say thank you to him. It’s why I wanted Marianne to win. We didn’t succeed, but at least we gave everything we had."

Vos will be back, to try and conquer the unpredictability, to give it everything she has once again at Paris-Roubaix Femmes. Second in these circumstances was still impressive, and a month shy of her 39th birthday, there is no sign of the Dutchwoman slowing yet.

When Franziska Koch won Germany’s junior omnium title in 2017, she wouldn’t have imagined that those same track skills would carry her to an improbable Paris-Roubaix Femmes victory almost a decade later.

The 25-year-old outfoxed two of the greatest riders of this generation, Marianne Vos and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, a Visma-Lease a Bike pairing with 29 world titles between them, to bag her biggest career win to date on Sunday.

The crowd, huddled around the outdoor velodrome, let out a collective gasp on the bike throw. Koch wasn’t supposed to win, this wasn’t in the script – how could a rider with only one previous WorldTour scalp beat the world’s best, all by herself?

“This is a victory for a hard-working underdog,” said Stephen Delcourt, Koch’s FDJ United-SUEZ manager, who watched with his hands on his head as she roared around the velodrome.

“We knew she was capable of winning, but she still found herself up against the two GOATs of our sport,” Delcourt said. “She was eager to give it a shot; she was quite vocal on the radio, saying, ‘I'm not afraid to hurt them. I feel strong.’”

So who is Franziska Koch? And why, as unexpected as it may seem, was she destined to win in Roubaix?

“I come from a cycling family,” Koch said in her winner’s press conference, “even my grandparents raced their bikes themselves. My parents met at a race as well, so cycling was always a big thing in my family.”

Born in the northwest German town of Mettmann, an hour’s drive from the Dutch border, Koch rode her first bike race when she was nine years old.

“I grew up really multi-disciplined. I did everything. I did mountain biking, and track in the winter a little bit,” she said, leaving out the fact she was national champion in both as a junior. “I think that helped me have good bike skills, and those are definitely needed here.”

Two years after her junior success, Koch joined Team Sunweb, and in her fifth race with the squad, took a shock stage win at the Boels Ladies Tour, aged 19 – the second youngest rider in the race.

Over the next six years, however, as the team morphed into Team DSM and Picnic PostNL, Koch found her chances limited, her role focused on domestique duties. She left the roster at the end of last season, and has since found renewed form at FDJ United-SUEZ – “I think a happy athlete is a good athlete, and the whole team is working really well together," she said.

The evidence is in the results. In the last few months alone, Koch has finished fifth at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, third at Strade Bianche, and tenth at the Tour of Flanders, each time while riding in support of Demi Vollering. Her own opportunity, and a big win, seemed only a matter of time.

“She’s such a strong rider,” said Ferrand-Prévot, last year’s Paris-Roubaix winner, and this year’s third-place finisher. “To see what she did in Flanders for Demi, she pulled so much at the front in the cobblestones. She’s a monster, she’s really, really strong. I know how strong she was. I was not sure about her sprint, but now I know.”

Koch herself acknowledged that she’s not a “pure sprinter – but I can still have a good punch at the end of a hard race”. It’s a kick that has carried her to two German national road titles, in 2024 and 2025, and now her first Monument.

“It’s unbelievable. I was always dreaming of winning this race,” she said. “The team was really believing in me, that I was in a great shape, and to finish it off today was just amazing.”

Amazing, too, was the sight of Koch on the podium. As the German national anthem played over the loud speakers, she stood tall and smiled to the crowds, a step higher than the two yellow jerseys – both with rainbow piping – flanking her either side. Koch had beaten the world’s best. Now the world knows who she is.

After launching in 2021, Paris-Roubaix Femmes is back for its sixth edition, and will take place this year on Sunday, in tandem with the men's race for the first time.

Four days before the race, last year's winner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) announced that she will go against her earlier schedule, and return to defend her title across the cobbles.

No rider has won the women's race twice, and while the Frenchwoman may hope to be the first to do so, she will face competition from Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) and Alison Jackson (St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93), two other former winners on the start list.

There will be 123 riders at the start of the race in Denain. Teams are allowed to field a maximum of six riders, however two teams will compete with fewer: UAE Team ADQ, down to four after Sofie van Rooijnen suffered a training crash, and Ma Petite Entreprise, who will ride with five.

Paris-Roubaix Femmes 2026 start list

Visma-Lease a Bike

Pauline Ferrand-Prévot
Marianne Vos
Daniek Hengeveld
Nienke Veenhoven
Lieke Nooijen
Margaux Vigié

SD Worx-Protime

Lotte Kopecky
Barbara Guarischi
Lorena Wiebes
Julia Kopecký
Blanka Vas
Femke Markus

AG Insurance-Soudal

Letizia Borghesi
Shari Bossuyt
Gladys Verhulst-Wild
Marthe Goossens
Ilse Pluimers
Alana Castrique

FDJ United-SUEZ

Elise Chabbey
Franziska Koch
Célia Géry
Vittoria Guazzini
Amber Kraak
Jade Wiel

St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93

Alison Jackson
Clémence Chéreau
Alicia González
Karolina Kumięga
Elyne Roussel
Caroline Wreszin

Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto

Zoë Bäckstedt
Chiara Consonni
Tiffany Cromwell
Chloé Dygert
Rosa Maria Klöser
Maria Martins

UAE Team ADQ

Megan Jastrab
Febe Jooris
Lara Gillespie
Alena Ivanchenko

Lidl-Trek

Elisa Balsamo
Emma Norsgaard Bjerg
Clara Copponi
Shirin van Anrooij
Lucinda Brand
Lauretta Hanson

Fenix-Premier Tech

Charlotte Kool
Millie Couzens
Mylène de Zoete
Evy Kuijpers
Flora Perkins
Marthe Truyen

Movistar

Cat Ferguson
Carys Lloyd
Floortje Mackaij
Arlenis Sierra
Aude Biannic
Laura Ruiz Pérez

Team Picnic PostNL

Pfeiffer Georgi
Rachele Barbieri
Robyn Clay
Mia Griffin
Lucie Fityus
Josie Nelson

Liv AlUla Jayco

Jeanne Korevaar
Noä Jansen
Quinty Ton
Georgia Baker
Ruby Roseman-Gannon
Mackenzie Coupland

EF Education-Oatly

Nina Berton
Auke De Buysscher
Mirre Knaven
Alexis Magner
Caoimhe O'Brien
Alexandra Volstad

Cofidis

Amalie Dideriksen
Martina Alzini
Marion Borras
Kristýna Burlová
Valentine Fortin
Nadia Quagliotto

Human Powered Health

Maggie Coles-Lyster
Jente Koops
Wiktoria Pikulík
Katia Ragusa
Kathrin Schweinberger
Lily Williams

Uno-X Mobility

Linda Zanetti
Laura Tomasi
Kamilla Aasebø
Anniina Ahtosalo
Susanne Andersen
Teuntje Beekhuis

Lotto Intermarché

Julie Brouwers
Ilken Seynave
Sterre Vervloet
Katrijn De Clercq
Lea Lin Teutenberg
Linda Riedmann

VolkerWessels

Sophie von Berswordt
Meis Poland
Scarlett Souren
Vera Tieleman
Lonneke Uneken
Amber van der Hulst

Ma Petite Entreprise

Alison Avoine
Noémie Abgrall
Margot Marasco
Ilona Rouat
Léa Stern

Laboral Kutxa-Fundación Euskadi

Irati Aranguren
Idoia Eraso
Arianna Fidanza
Sara Fiorin
Cristina Tonetti
Marjolein van 't Geloof

Mayenne Monbana My Pie

Justine Gegu
Fiona Mangan
Jenaya Francis
Allison Mrugal
Natalie Quinn
Constance Valentin

The reduction in TV broadcast time for this year’s Paris-Roubaix Femmes has been described as a “massive affront to women’s cycling”.

The women’s race, now in its sixth edition, will take place this Sunday 12 April on the same day as the men’s race for the first time. As a result of the clash, TV coverage of the women's race will begin at 16:00 UK time – after the finish of the men’s race – with less than an hour and a half of the event, or the final 50km, expected to be broadcast.

Fans at home will therefore miss the opening two hours and 15 minutes of the race, which are likely to include the first nine of 20 cobbled sectors.

Last year, the women's race had almost double the TV broadcast time. The men’s race will be shown this Sunday in its five-and-a-half-hour entirety.

In comments shared with Cycling Weekly, Deena Blacking, the managing director of The Cyclists’ Alliance, an independent body that represents the women’s peloton, said her organisation is “very concerned” about the year-on-year reduction in TV coverage.

“As we all know, the sport needs visibility to be able to reach its fans and to grow its fanbase – and that means well-produced, well-commentated, well-timed broadcast time for races,” Blacking said.

“To take away key sponsorship time by reducing broadcast time in favour of the men's race is a massive affront to women's cycling and takes away from its growth.

“Having both races on the same day seems to have a negative effect. In the previous recent years, having the race on a different day allows for the women's race to have its own complete occasion. When the races are done on the same day, the women inevitably draw the short straw, including on start times, prime viewing times, and more.”

When the announcement was made this February to move both races to the same day, a spokesperson for ASO, the organiser of Paris-Roubaix, told Escape Collective: “Holding the women's race on Sunday ensures better TV visibility, with viewers benefiting from two finishes on the same day, just a few hours apart.”

Cycling Weekly has contacted ASO for comment.

UCI rules stipulate that women’s WorldTour events, like Paris-Roubaix Femmes, must have a live TV broadcast of at least 45 minutes.

In an impact report released last July, Zwift, the title sponsor of the Tour de France Femmes, said it is “vital that the sport gets the exposure needed to bring in the investment required”.

Movistar rider Cat Ferguson also commented on the topic of TV coverage of women’s races in her column for Cyclingnews this week, writing in reference to the recent Tour of Flanders, where 100km of the 164km women’s race were broadcast: “There's something to gain there by televising more of the women's race. We have to keep pushing for that, but the viewers and the general cycling community need to do the same.

“I think it would benefit women's cycling as a whole; the sponsors and all the partners who put the money in, but it would benefit the race, and make the race more exciting for the early breakaways to know that if they put themselves in a break from kilometre zero, then they're getting much more television time.”

Paris-Roubaix Femmes will start at 13:45 UK time on Sunday, with TV coverage beginning at 16:00. The race will be shown on TNT Sports and HBO Max in the UK, NBC/Peacock in the US, and Flobikes in Canada. Read our TV guide for more info.

Zoe Bäckstedt is in the best road racing form of her life. The 21-year-old is no stranger to being at the front of bike races and podiums, being a WorldTour winner, a national champion, and a junior and under-23 world champion, but this April she seems a level above.

In her 16 one-day WorldTour races up to this month, Backstedt's best finished was 15th at last year's Paris-Roubaix Femmes. No bad thing for someone in her development phase. But this year there has been a marked improvement. At Dwars door Vlaanderen, Bäckstedt finished fourth, before fifth place at the Tour of Flanders last Sunday, her best ever result in a Monument.

There, she was narrowly beaten to fourth by former world champion Lotte Kopecky, who has won the race three times, in the second group behind solo winner Demi Vollering. It was an incredibly impressive ride for the 21-year-old Backstedt, holding her own in an elite group of favourites including Tour de France Femmes winners Vollering and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot.

"I was really proud of myself for the ride that I did," she tells Cycling Weekly in the lobby of her team hotel in the hinterland of the Belgian, Franch border. "It was definitely the best day that I've ever had on the bike. The confidence I also had in myself, especially being at the front of the bike race on the Koppenberg, I was like ‘I could do something here’. I have to be really happy with this but hungry for more."

"Before the [Oude] Kwaremont, I was thinking I'm good, I'm gonna boss this," The Red Bull rider continues. "Then I got to it, and I was like: ‘Oh no, this is not going the way I planned’. You look up and it's like, cobbles and cobbles. There were a lot of emotions going through my mind, but it was mostly keep fighting, try and get to this wheel, try and stay with that wheel. You have so much going on, but you have nothing in your mind."

Fortunately, the opportunity for her hunger to be sated comes just a week after, with Paris-Roubaix Femmes taking place on Sunday, with its 20 cobbled sectors over 143.1km. For Bäckstedt, this opportunity is all the more special because it's Roubaix, her favourite race, one that suits her skillset almost perfectly, and also the race which her father, Magnus, won in 2004.

"I would say this is what my cyclo-cross season and spring lead towards," Bäckstedt says, her energy and enthusiasm for the 'Hell of the North' clear. "After the race, I basically start my off season this weekend. It's the build up to the end of my season. I can go all in for that last one, and then take a breather and recharge, I can just go 100% full gas for this one.

"I've got nothing else for a while. So it's nice that I can just, I can be completely empty on the finish line."

Sunday will be Bäckstedt's fourth Paris-Roubaix, having ridden every edition since she turned pro with EF Education-TIBCO-SVB in 2023. The only two she missed out on happened before she turned 18, which is a good excuse for not being there.

"The first year I was obviously in the team with Alison Jackson when she won [2023]," Bäckstedt recalls. "That was my first Roubaix, and then to be in the team that won in the end was a super cool feeling in itself. Then in '24 I was on Canyon and I had my dad in the team car for the 20 year anniversary of his win. That brought another special aspect to it.

"Last year, I had super good form, and I felt really good going into the race, and everything had panned out. Now, after Flanders, the legs have told me that they're good. They just need to be the same on the weekend."

The legs might be good, but there is so much of what happens at Roubaix is down to experience, luck, and positioning, two of which the Welshwoman has been working on.

"It's absolutely brutal, it's possible to get massive blisters on your hands, and then it's a lot about luck," she explains. "It's a race where you have 26 plans, every single letter of the alphabet has got a plan to it, almost. If you have a puncture, you ride it until you can't ride it anymore."

"In the first edition, I was there almost to make up numbers a little bit, just to experience the race," Bäckstedt continues. "Now I'm here as a rider and I want to be in the front group. I want to be there when the big riders get going, when it kicks off. It's a very big change, but I'm excited for it."

Being in the right place at the right time is part of what makes a successful Paris-Roubaix, and is what helped her to her stand-out result at Flanders, too.

"It's about positioning," she says. "It's about being out of trouble. If you're at the front, if you're in the first five, then you only have four possibilities for someone to crash. If you're hundredth, then you have 99 people in front of you that can crash. I just have confidence in myself, that I know what I'm doing, that I can do these races. I can be at the front, and I'm worthy of being at the front."

In the absence of Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney after her crash at Milan-San Remo, Bäckstedt was her team's leader at Flanders; the same role would be expected at Roubaix, despite the presence of former world time trial champion Chloé Dygert.

"I'm hoping that I will be the leader for the weekend," she says, diplomatically. "I've expressed enough how much I like this race, and how much I want to do well in this race, and I think the team believes that I can do well. It would be really nice to have their support on the weekend."

Despite having a fast finish, she is clear how she would rather win the cobbled Classic: "If you're on your own, then you have so many less things to worry about, to think about, whereas if you're in a sprint, anything could happen. It's the motto of this race."

While many riders fear Roubaix and the cobbles, one gets the impression that Bäckstedt savours it; it feels like the race is in her blood, and that she enjoys the suffering that it brings.

"I'm not really the kind of person that wants to go double bar tape or fully wrapped," she explains of her setup. "I quite like the feeling of having the exposed carbon as well. It can be quite cooling on your fingers, especially when you're riding your fingers get super tense. I'm not also one of the ones that goes tape on the wrist, tape on the fingers, that kind of stuff. No gloves, regular bar tape. Just ride the bike."

Just ride the bike. That might well be her motto at the race where anything can happen. Just keep riding, and an even more special result than last Sunday might well come.

Despite earlier statements to the contrary, her Paris-Roubaix Femmes rivals might be demoralised to hear that Pauline Ferrand-Prévot will be defending her title after all.

The French Visma-Lease a Bike rider had previously said she would be focusing on the hillier Ardennes Classics but, say, her team, she "could not resist" throwing her hat into the ring for Roubaix, which takes place this Sunday. She will be joined by team-mate Marianne Vos, who was runner-up behind Lizzie Deignan in the first edition of the race in 2021.

“With Marianne and Pauline, we have two strong cards to play, but that doesn’t mean anything comes automatically,” said Visma-Lease a Bike coach Jan Boven in a team statement. “It’s up to us to race smart and keep supporting each other as well as possible.”

He added: “Pauline was very eager to race Roubaix. Her addition naturally changes the dynamic and gives us even more options during the race. With such a strong and well-balanced team, we’re aiming for the best possible result."

Ferrand-Prévot took a memorable victory at the race last year on her return to road racing after winning the Olympic mountain bike title at Paris 2024. She attacked on the crucial Carrefour de l'Abre sector of pavé with 25km remaining, and soloed to the finish.

For Vos, who last raced at the Trofeo Alfredo Binda in mid-March, it will be a sombre return – the 38-year-old is still grieving the recent loss of her father.

“It has been a very difficult period,” she said. “It was good and important for me to spend the past few weeks with my family. This week, I’ve tried to get back to normal life again, and of course the bike is an important part of that.

“Paris-Roubaix is a very special race and has always been a major goal for me," she added. "So I’m really looking forward to being back on the start line with the team on Sunday.”

Describing Roubaix's polarising nature, she said: “From the moment you arrive here and go out for the recon, it just feels great to be here. Even though the cobbled sectors can feel like torture, the road leading to the velodrome in Roubaix is beautiful. This race is so unique in cycling. I absolutely love it.”

The pair will be joined by team-mates Lieke Nooijen, Nienke Veenhoven, Daniek Hengeveld and Margaux Vigié.

You can find TV and streaming details for Paris-Roubaix and Paris-Roubaix Femmes here in our guide.

At 4pm French time on Saturday afternoon, all eyes should have been on Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift, as the race reached its crescendo point. Emma Norsgaard had just made what could have been a race-winning attack from the group of favourites, and all of the biggest riders in the world were at their limit, from Lotte Kopecky to Marianne Vos, waiting to see what would happen. Just 15 minutes later, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot would launch her victorious move, and write her name into the history books. Everyone was gripped - there was just 32km to go, one of the moments of the year was approaching.

Not all eyes were on one of the biggest women’s races of the year, however. 150km to the south, the star riders for Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix were filing off stage in Compiègne, as part of a team presentation for the men’s race. As one of the biggest events in women’s cycling was taking place - owned and operated by the same race organisers, ASO - a promotional event for the men’s race was taking away attention, distracting some. It meant the male riders couldn’t watch much of the race, but also gave an opportunity for fans, journalists, casual observers, to completely miss the women’s event. It seems ludicrous.

If you were to head to one of Europe’s biggest sports newspapers on Saturday afternoon, you would not have seen a single piece from the Roubaix Velodrome about Paris-Roubaix Femmes. Instead, there were interviews from Compiègne, where attention was directed instead. This is not to blame individuals; but why were people given a reason to miss the end of the women’s race? There might be mileage in a Tadej Pogačar interview, always, but could that not have happened at a time other than Saturday afternoon, while Paris-Roubaix Femmes was happening?

We are now in the fifth year of Paris-Roubaix Femmes, and it has quickly become one of the races of the year; it is a huge event, and genuinely a thrill to see the world’s best women tackle much of the same route as the men have for well over 100 years. The organisation is great, and it’s truly special that this race is happening at all. It is, it should be said, so much better than many other races in terms of gender parity.

However, there is still a long way to go, and moments like the team presentation don’t help the perception that the femmes are treated as secondary to the hommes. This isn’t new, obviously, professional cycling remains an incredibly patriarchal world, but it is more than a little on the nose to be confronted with it this blatantly.

Unlike almost every other one-day race where there are men’s and women’s versions, Paris-Roubaix’s two different editions happen on separate days. This is not automatically a bad thing - I love that both are allowed to exist in their own right and breathe, and it certainly makes it a lot easier to cover, trust me. However, this is where a lot of the disparity comes from.

The women’s race, on the Saturday, happens on the same day as the official sportive, the Paris-Roubaix Challenge, which you could never imagine happening for the men’s race, such is the organisation around it. It isn’t necessarily an issue, but imagine if something did happen - a medical emergency or something similar could easily delay the race.

The fact it occurs on the Saturday also means there are so many fewer fans out on the course for the race. Sure, it is a great excuse to make a weekend of it, and why wouldn’t you watch both? But people always choose the easier option, or tradition, and it means that the roadsides are so much fuller on Sunday for the men (not that that’s always a good thing) than they are on Saturday for the women, and this is a shame. At the Tour of Flanders, both events happen on the same day - the women after the men - which makes it a nightmare to cover or watch both, but does mean that many of the same fans on the road watch both.

The other crucial point of disparity between the men’s and women’s race is the distance and the sectors that the race tackles. The women don’t ride the Arenberg Trench, probably the most famous part of the race, with its tunnel of trees and brutal cobbles, but they have proved up to the rest of the course, so why not? The answer at the moment is said to be logistics, with the start in Denain deemed too close to the Arenberg, but the route or the start town could be changed. It seems odd to have Roubaix without the Arenberg; it is not too hard for the best riders in the world.

I came away from Paris-Roubaix Femmes enlivened by the brilliant action and racing, but on reflection, a little disheartened by the feeling that it was second tier compared to the men’s race the next day. Why was the press room - still male dominated, it should be said - a third emptier on Saturday compared to Sunday? Change is needed - everyone should be watching the femmes.

This piece is part of The Leadout, the offering of newsletters from Cycling Weekly and Cyclingnews. To get this in your inbox, subscribe here.

If you want to get in touch with Adam, email adam.becket@futurenet.com, or comment below.

For the layperson, Christmas Day falls on 25th December. But for bike nerds like us at Cycling Weekly, it comes in April, stretched over a weekend in northern France.

With its unique and unrelenting cobbled sectors, Paris-Roubaix always promises to bring a sleigh full of interesting tech. This year is proving no different.

Ahead of the fifth edition of the women's race, Cycling Weekly wandered from team bus to team bus, armed with a camera and an inquisitive mind. Here's what we found, from gravel wheels and differing tyre widths, to aero bikes and adjustable pressure systems.

Aero bikes with gravel wheels

Ridley's Noah Fast 3.0 aero bike, ridden by Uno-X this season, is one of the most aggressively designed bikes we've seen in the peloton.

Its futuristic geometry boasts longer tube shapes in the forks, dropped seat stays, and an eye-catchingly deep headtube (pictured below). According to Ridley, it's 8.5 watts faster than the previous model.

And yet, while aero is key in a flat race like Paris-Roubaix, it has to be balanced with comfort over the cobbles.

Uno-X set out to achieve this by pairing the Noah Fast with gravel wheels – DT Swiss's GRC 1100. Made from lightweight carbon, the wheels are designed to absorb shocks, and are said to be the "ultimate off-road" companion by their makers.

30-35mm tyres

Tyre width choice has long been a point of contention in the cobbled Classics, and nowhere more so than at Paris-Roubaix. Racing over fiercely jagged cobbles, riders prefer a wider surface area than they do on the road, hoping to roll safely over the more dangerous stretches.

At Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift on Saturday, Cycling Weekly saw riders choosing widths from 30mm to 35mm – compared to the more common 28mm seen on the flat.

The widest tyres we spotted belonged to SD Worx-Protime, including the defending champion Lotte Kopecky, whose front wheel is pictured above. The team ran 35mm S-Works Mondo endurance tyres.

The next widest tyres belonged to the Cofidis team, who ran the grippy Vittoria Corsa Pro Control in 34mm.

Ceratizit also ran Vittoria Corsa Pro Control tyres, but in 32mm. This was the most common width among the starters on the day.

The narrowest tyres we saw were fitted to the bikes of Human Powered Health's riders, and measured 30mm. We also saw this width on bikes from St Michel - Preference Home - Auber93 and Liv AlUla Jayco, with half the Australian squad on 30mm and the other half on 32mm.

Tyre inflation system

Adjustable tyre pressure systems first surfaced at Paris-Roubaix two years ago, used by a handful of riders testing the then-new technology.

This time round, Visma-Lease a Bike's riders were unanimous in running the systems, made by Netherlands-based Gravaa.

The company's system is controlled wirelessly via Bluetooth with buttons installed on the handlebars, and allows riders to drop and increase tyre pressure as they please. Pauline Ferrand Prévot rode the technology to victory on her debut.

"I changed every sector," the Frenchwoman said afterwards. "It was super good to be able to put lower pressure on the cobbles. We were much more comfortable, less jumping."

After she dropped the pressure down, Ferrand-Prévot said the system took "some minutes" to get up to 4-bar (58psi), but gave her an advantage on the road sections.

"To be able to pump again on the tarmac was super good, because there was a lot at the end on the tarmac," she said.

Unreleased wheels

This year, riders have been using unreleased 'smart wheels' from brand Zipp. The first to be seen using them was Q36.5's Tom Pidcock at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, and they were commonplace at Paris-Roubaix among Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto and Movistar, two teams supplied with Zipp wheels.

Although there is no spec available at the moment, patent information suggests the wheels give live feedback to riders about tyre pressure, rim health, and road surfaces. They do not, however, allow live pressure adjustments like Gravaa's system.

The wheels come as a combination of Zipp wheels and in-sensor accessories from TyreWiz, two brands owned by components maker SRAM.

Single chainrings

Another thing that has become a more common sight at Paris-Roubaix is single chainring groupsets, also known as 1x.

Every team supplied with SRAM components – including Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto, Movistar, and Visma-Lease a Bike – used 1x set-ups on Saturday.

A single chainring is normally sufficient for a flat race like Roubaix, and vastly reduces the risk of the chain falling off. In the picture of Chloé Dygert's (Canyon-SRAM) bike above, you can see she used a chain guide hold it in place. This was standard across those running 1x.

Satellite shifters

Satellite shifters are nothing new at Paris-Roubaix, but it's always interesting to see how different riders choose to place them.

Above, note how Emma Norsgaard (Lidl-Trek) has one shifter under the tops of her bars, and another inside the drops. This enables her to shift while handling the bike in different places.

Norsgaard's shifters were also reinforced with extra bar tape.

The above picture is of Kopecky's handlebars. The world champion opted for single shifters, located either side of her bike's stem.

This is because Kopecky prefers grip the tops of her bars while riding over cobbles, shifting with her thumbs.

Another noticeable thing we spotted on Kopecky's bike was this rainbow-coloured metallic cassette. This bit of bling was on her spare bike, and gives no discernible advantage, other than looking cool.

We were also big fans of this special-edition cobble paint job over at Winspace Orange Seal's team bus.

The bike didn't have a number attached to it, so we're not sure if it was used in the race. Either way, it looks the part, doesn't it?

You can hear the riders coming over the pavé much earlier than you can see them, the thunder of the approaching convoy a giveaway sign that the peloton is about to pass at Paris-Roubaix Femmes.

The sound of two score bikes on cobbles, the thud of the rubber on stone, the jangle of the drive chain, the whoosh from the speed. Then there's the dust, which somehow gets everywhere, and mostly in your mouth. It's not an experience for the faint-hearted.

That's for those spectating; for those riding, it is leagues worse. All of those sounds, plus the threat of a crash or a puncture, concentration on for hours, almost always on the limit; trying to pick the right line while having a face full of dust.

You don't need to ask anyone how hard Paris-Roubaix Femmes is, you can see it at the finish, as riders cross the line with faces covered in dirt, save for the sunglass lines, and then collapse to the floor in exhaustion. Even those who have had a moment to recover are still not quite ready to talk to the waiting press.

Lorena Wiebes of SD Worx-Protime, third on Saturday, has raced all five editions so far of the women's Hell of the North. "It’s not a nice feeling to get over cobbles and it’s still hanging on and fighting for your position in every sector," she said.

"I would not say it will ever feel nice. I hope I keep improving my engine, making it bigger and bigger."

"It never gets easier," Zoe Bäckstedt of Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto, 15th on Saturday, echoed. "this year I came out quite nicely with just one small blister, but it's still just as hard as ever. That's why it's called the Hell of the North."

Lidl-Trek's Emma Norsgaard, who finished one place ahead of Bäckstedt, but who animated the race with a significant attack, is not a fan of the race, despite it being one suited to her strengths. Her attack was "freestyling", she said.

"It was unbelievable," the Dane explained. "I was thinking this is my chance but I knew I was already losing energy a little bit, but I was still dreaming that when she dropped me I could still hold off the group. This is not how it went.

"It's so hard, I have pain everywhere. I just want to cry, I said in an interview the other day that I think it's absolutely disgusting this race, and I truly believe it.

"I'm not looking forward to next year at all, I need some time now I guess."

However, it is not all tales of painful suffering. Flora Perkins of Fenix-Deceuninck finished outside the time limit on her Roubaix debut in 2022, but this time finished 40th.

"It felt less like a sportive this time, but still as cool," the 21-year-old joked. "It was hard in a different way, hard because you have to keep going. I was our first finisher on our team, it didn't go the best, and so I was thinking this was riding on me now, I didn't feel amazing. You just keep going, you can't think about it in the race. Physically, I've come on a lot since three years ago, which is a good feeling to have.

"I don't think it's the hardest race. Maybe because it's more suited to me, it's the on/off effort. Put me on a really brutal long climb where you're really suffering way longer than you want to be, and I would say that's hard."

Imogen Wolff of Visma-Lease a Bike had victory to celebrate on Saturday evening, after her teammate Pauline Ferrand-Prévot won, but the race had already "surpassed" her expectations.

"There was a moment on sector eight where I was like, I don't think bike racing can get better than this," the 18-year-old said. "It was just a wall of noise and the dust and phwoar. I feel like I definitely have unfinished business here, personally, and I want to come back."

Roubaix is a race that demands everything from its participants, which is clear at the finish, but five years on from the first edition, perhaps some are getting the hang of it.

Sometimes, accidents can be good. Penicillin was discovered by mistake by Alexander Fleming, X-rays were stumbled upon by Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen, while chocolate chips cookies were first made by Ruth Wakefield, who was trying to melt the chocolate entirely.

A happy accident occurred for Pauline Ferrand-Prévot on Saturday at Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift, as the Visma-Lease a Bike rider won a race that she didn't aim to win, a race she wasn't even supposed to be at altogether. The 33-year-old attacked with 19km to go and was never seen again by the chasing bunch, despite it being a move that sought to tire legs rather than achieve victory.

"I was not feeling super well the last few days," the Frenchwoman explained. "I crashed in Strade [Bianche] and since then I didn’t totally recover from the crash, I got an infection on my ankle and I had to take antibiotics. I skipped training yesterday because I felt very weak. I didn’t have a fever this morning so we just tried;. I was not very sure about my condition this morning.

"The goal [of the attack] was to make the sprinters tired, to bring Marianne [Vos] as fresh as possible to the finish so she could sprint for the win. I attacked at a good moment, Marianne asked me to go on the cobbles, and I said it was smart to wait a little and attack on the tarmac, and that’s what I did. After it was not super organised behind and I had a gap, and I went full gas to make them work.

"I was not thinking about winning the race, I just wanted to make SD Worx work. It's super cool."

That's not to denigrate Ferrand-Prévot's performance; the 33-year-old held off some of the best riders in the world, including Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) and Chloé Dygert (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) off for the final half an hour, meaning she entered a packed velodrome alone. It also followed second place at the Tour of Flanders last weekend, no mean feat.

The roar from the crowd as she entered the Roubaix Velodrome was truly spine-tingling, as was the rendition of the Marseillaise, the French national anthem, which followed. It just was never supposed to happen.

"It was not in my calendar," Ferrand-Prévot explained. "Normally I was supposed to be at altitude for two weeks again. After Strade and San Remo I asked if I could do [the Tour of] Flanders, and one week later I asked if I could do Roubaix. It was really not on my calendar and it was a last moment decision. It’s what I like with the team, I have a free role, and I race a bit like I want."

The Visma rider has pretty much won everything so far in her career: World Championships on the road, in cyclo-cross, and MTB, as well as the Olympic MTB title. Now her eyes are focused on something even bigger, after she has returned to the road after being away for four years. Her last road win came in 2015, six years before Paris-Roubaix even had a women's race, before the Women's WorldTour came into existence.

"I really want to win the Tour de France, that’s the next big goal of my career," Ferrand-Prévot said. "Winning the Olympics at home was the most beautiful, and now I’m enjoying being back on my road and working with my teammates. I really wanted to win everything on the MTB and now it’s ok if someone else wins from the team because it’s not about me.

"There’s no pressure anymore, and I’m feeling so good. We need to make the team stronger to be able to win Tour, and also to ride longer climbs. I’m looking for the next challenge."

"This first year back on the road is to discover what I can do," she continued. "Even if the main goal is the Tour, Flanders and Roubaix are good for training to be in position. The first three stages of the Tour will be quite hectic, and I wanted to train at being in a good position and fighting. These races are good training."

Despite it seeming as simple as slipping on an old pair of slippers for Ferrand-Prévot, there has been a lot going on behind the scenes.

"It was not easy," she said. "If you saw me last year at the Worlds on the road [she DNFed] you can see it’s not easy, and there was quite a lot of work over the winter. I had to have patience and trust in the process. It’s a completely different sport, so you have to get used to everything. It was also a building process, and now I feel quite comfortable in the bunch. Last weekend I was not comfortable enough to attack, but every week it’s a step process and it’s a bit higher."

Roubaix might have been a happy accident, but like penicillin, Ferrand-Prévot will now hope that she's cracked something now, that this good form can continue all the way to July.

Thirteen years ago, Imogen Wolff stood at the start line of Paris-Roubaix with her family. She was six years old at the time, smaller than half the size of the riders competing, and in awe of her first taste of bike racing abroad. Keen to remember the moment, she set out collecting as many souvenirs as she could.

“It was all so new, so exciting, and so special. We went to the team buses to see all the bikes and the mechanics, and try and get free bidons,” she laughs. “It all just seemed so big and so professional.”

Now, just months into her first year as a pro, Wolff is set to return to the cobbled Monument. She won’t be hunting for freebies this time, though; instead, the 19-year-old will line up among the best riders in the world, competing in the yellow of Visma-Lease a Bike.

How does she feel on the eve of her Paris-Roubaix debut? “The nerves haven’t quite kicked in yet, so I’m just super excited and looking forward to it,” she tells Cycling Weekly. “It’s really surreal that now I’m part of it.”

Wolff was just two years old when she began cycling, brought up in a village in South Yorkshire. She did cyclo-cross, road, and track throughout her childhood, and remembers one race in particular that made her “fall in love” with the sport.

“I can pinpoint the moment,” she says. “It was watching Lizzie Deignan win the inaugural edition [of Paris-Roubaix Femmes]. I can still remember everything about that race, her long-range attack, somehow keeping it up over the cobbles. That was the moment that I was like, ‘This is what I want to do.’ It was only four years ago, so to be here now is really, really cool.”

On Saturday, the teenager will ride in support of her Visma-Lease a Bike teammates Marianne Vos and Pauline-Ferrand Prévot. She did the same last weekend at the Tour of Flanders, her second Monument, where she ended up finishing an impressive 22nd.

What’s her goal for her first Paris-Roubaix? “I really just want to make it to the velodrome,” she says, the determination clear in her voice. “Even in the recon, riding around it was just a really crazy feeling. I think in the race that will be tenfold.”

Wolff will also have an added motivation to make it across the cobbles. At the finish, her mum and a group of her friends will be waiting to cheer her home. “If I can get there, I think that would be a really special moment,” the teenager says.

Thirteen years on from her first trip, it’s time to make new family memories at Paris-Roubaix.

The cobbled Classics season reaches it peak on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 April at Paris-Roubaix Femmes and Paris-Roubaix, with the elite men and women set to tackle the brutality of the pavé of northern France.

Below, Cycling Weekly has compiled everything you need to know about broadcasters and live streams, so you can watch Paris-Roubaix wherever you are in the world.

Quick guide to watching Paris-Roubaix

• UK: TNT Sports / Discovery+ (£30.99/mon)
• US: Peacock (US - $7.99 a month)
• Canada: Flobikes (Canada - CA$39.99/mon)
• Australia: SBS On Demand (free)
• Free live stream: SBS (Australia) and others (see below)
• Anywhere: Watch your usual stream from abroad with NordVPN

How to watch Paris-Roubaix in the UK

In the UK, Paris-Roubaix Femmes and Paris-Roubaix, like pretty much all pro cycling, will be shown on TV on TNT Sports and online on Discovery+. Both platforms are owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and require a subscription.

The women's Paris-Roubaix is live on TNT Sports 4 from 1:15pm BST on Saturday April 12, but coverage starts earlier on Discovery+ from 12.45pm BST on Saturday. The men's Paris-Roubaix is live on TNT Sports 1 and Discovery+ from 10am BST on the Sunday.

Online viewers, head to Discovery+, where you'll find both races ready to stream at the times noted above.

Discovery+ costs £30.99 a month since the price rise one month ago. TNT Sports is also £30.99 a month, but is cheaper with certain TV packages.

How to watch Paris-Roubaix in the US and Canada

For North American viewers, this year's coverage of Paris-Roubaix is split across Peacock and FloBikes.

Peacock, which is the streaming platform of NBC, has the rights to show Paris-Roubaix in the US. Subscriptions start at $7.99 a month, or $79.99 a year, for the 'Premium' offering with ads. Viewers can pay a little bit more to watch without ads thanks to 'Premium Plus', priced at $13.99 a month, or $139.99 a year. A longer subscription will secure your Tour de France streaming.

FloBikes is in charge of broadcasting Paris-Roubaix in Canada. Subscriptions cost CA$39.99 a month, with big savings for long-term plans. The Flobikes TV app is available on Roku, Fire TV, Chromecast and Apple TV, as well as on iOS and Android.

In both cases, Paris-Roubaix Femmes coverage starts at 8:40am EDT on Saturday, while Paris-Roubaix coverage starts at 5:05am on Sunday.

Can I watch Paris-Roubaix for free?

Fans in Australia can watch Paris-roubaix for free, as can those in the host country of Belgium, and in France, the Netherlands, Italy, and Spain too.Fans in Australia can watch the Paris-Roubaix for free, as can those in the host country of France, as well Belgium, Netherlands, Italy, and Spain.

In Australia, Paris-Roubaix is part of public broadcaster SBS's portfolio of races, with live streaming available on their free platform, SBS On Demand.

Details on all the free options, wherever you are, in the table below.

How to watch Paris-Roubaix while abroad

Most streaming platforms have geo-restrictions these days, which means they only work in certain countries. But being locked out of the races is a thing of the past thanks to a VPN, so you can continue to watch Paris-Roubaix and Paris-Roubaix Femmes while on the move.

A Virtual Private Network is a piece of internet security software that can alter your device's location, so you can unblock your usual streaming services, even when you're abroad.

Want to know more? We have an explainer on the benefits, costs, and considerations...
– Should I use a VPN to watch cycling?

When is Paris-Roubaix on today?

Paris-Roubaix today, April 13, starts at 10:25 BST / 05:25 EDT, and is expected to finish between 16:00-16:45 BST / 11:00-11:45 EDT.

UK coverage of Paris-Roubaix starts at 10:00 on Discovery+ and TNT Sports 1.

In North America, Peacock's coverage of Paris-Roubaix starts at 05:05 EDT, while Flobikes' starts at 05:00.

In Australia, Paris-Roubaix coverage starts at 20:00 and runs into the early hours of Monday morning.

What to expect from Paris-Roubaix

The women's race, the fifth edition, starts in Denain, 50km southeast of Lille, and finishes in the famous Roubaix velodrome, just north of Lille. The men, meanwhile, start in Compiègne, 100km north of Paris, and finish in the velodrome too.

The women will ride 17 cobbled sectors totalling 29.2km, with two five star sectors included, while the men ride 30 totalling 55.3km, including three five stars - the Trouée d'Arenberg, Mons-en-Pévèle, and the Carrefour de l'Arbre

This year's Paris-Roubaix is the fifth for women, and the 122nd for men, and is organised by ASO, the same organisers as the Tour de France.

Both are WorldTour events, with star male riders including Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek).

Meanwhile, Lotte Kopecky and Lorena Wiebes (both SD Worx-Protime), Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) and Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) will be present in the women's race.

See also: Cycling TV and streaming guide

We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.

Paris-Roubaix Femmes
Sunday 11 April
Distance: 143.1km
Start: 13:35 BST
Finish: 15:50 BST

Paris-Roubaix
Sunday 11 April
Distance: 258.3km
Start: 10:50 BST
Finish: 15:35 BST

The biggest French one-day race of the year happens this Sunday, with both Paris-Roubaix and Paris-Roubaix Femmes subjecting some of the best bike riders in the world to the brutality of the cobbles of northern France. It is the culmination of the cobbled Classics season, the denouement of a March and April of hard racing in Belgium.

The men tackle 30 cobbled sectors totalling 54.98km, which are all ranked from five to one stars - five being the hardest. There are three five star sectors in the men's race - the Trouée d'Arenberg, Mons-en-Pévèle, and the Carrefour de l'Arbre, with six four star sectors.

The women will ride 20 cobbled sectors totalling 33.7km, with two five stars included - Pévèle and the Carrefour.

Some of the best riders in the world will be on the start lines, and not all are Roubaix specialists - one Tadej Pogačar springs to mind. Alongside him, Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Mads Pedersen will likely star in the men's race.

In Roubaix Femmes, defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot will battle against Lotte Kopecky, Elise Chabbey and Zoe Bäckstedt, among others.

Make sure you're across how to watch cycling wherever you are in the world.

Five things to look out for at Paris-Roubaix

Atypical winners

The defending champion in the women’s race, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, will not be present this year, but she set a template for a different kind of rider to win Roubaix. The Frenchwoman won Roubaix and the Tour de France Femmes in the same year, and will inspire Tadej Pogačar to think that he can do the same thing this season. The Slovenian finished second last year, and comes back to finish it off.

Denain and Compiègne, not Paris

The men’s race begins in Compiègne, 80km north of Paris since 1977, with the first cobbles coming after about 100km. The women’s race, meanwhile, begins in Denain, with the first cobbles coming after about 65km. There are 30 sectors for the men, and 20 for the women. For the first time, the races will happen both on the same day, Sunday, so there’s more action for the fans, but a bit more a scramble for journalists…

Sun or rain

Much to the chagrin of fans who love to see the chaos of mud that rain at Roubaix brings, it is unlikely to happen this year once again for races. However, spots of rain could help a long-range attack, like Lizzie Deignan’s in 2021, or those in the bunch with cyclo-cross skills, like Mathieu van der Poel, Marianne Vos and Puck Pieterse. The weather being so important to the race is part of its excitement. A mudbath would cause chaos.

British hope

In the women’s event, Zoe Bäckstedt can count herself an outstanding favourite, Cat Ferguson is a serious contender, at 19, while Pfeiffer Georgi finished on the podium in 2024 and could return there again. In the men’s race, Matthew Brennan is very much an option if he is fit and firing, after winning at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne earlier this year. Fred Wright and Lewis Askey, both at new teams, can’t be discounted either.

French Flanders

The whole of Paris-Roubaix takes place in France, it is a very French affair, being organised by the Tour de France’s owners, ASO. However, the key parts of the race take part in Flanders, but not Belgian Flanders, French Flanders. The border areas in the north of France share many characteristics with places just across the border, and a love for strong beer, frites, and bike racing. The lion of Flanders flag is never far away, even if this is France.

Focus on: the Trouée d'Arenberg

The key point of the men’s Roubaix is not a climb but a very flat road just outside Wallers in Northern France. Well, it’s flat apart from the huge cobbles, which are supposedly the worst-maintained sector along the whole route. It runs between trees on either side, and riders are hemmed in by metal barriers, and roaring fans. It is one of three five-star sectors, and although it usually doesn’t provide the winner, you have to be near the front at the end of the Arenberg in order to have an impact on the race.

Where can I watch Paris-Roubaix?

It is on TNT Sports in the UK and Ireland, accessible via a TV package or a HBO Max subscription. Peacock has the rights in the US, SBS On Demand has free coverage in Australia, and you can watch your usual services while abroad with a VPN such as NordVPN. Read more in our in-depth guide.

Last year's Paris-Roubaix podiums

Men’s

1. Mathieu van der Poel, Alpecin-Deceuninck
2. Tadej Pogačar, UAE Team Emirates-XRG
3. Mads Pedersen, Lidl-Trek

Women’s

1. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Visma-Lease a Bike
2. Letizia Borghesi, EF Education-Oatly
3. Lorena Wiebes, SD Worx-Protimes

Riders to watch at Paris-Roubaix

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) *****

Last year it seemed a bit silly to include Tadej Pogačar in this list of riders to watch at Roubaix, given he’s a Tour de France winner who had never raced it before. Then on debut he went and starred, missing out on a shot at victory only through a misjudged corner. Who would ever bet against him?

Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) *****

The former champion has the power and the sprint to make Paris-Roubaix Femmes her own domain. With the threat of her teammate Lorena Wiebes behind, it might be a solo attack from the world champion, but also the Belgian has the means if it comes down to a bigger group in the velodrome.

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) *****

No rider has ever won for four years in a row. Like Kopecky, the Dutchman could win in multiple different ways, but most likely seems to be a long-range attack. With Jasper Philipsen behind, who has twice finished second, it will be difficult to control.

Elise Chabbey (FDJ United-SUEZ) ***

The Strade Bianche winner might not be the flashiest rider, but she is tough as nails, and her gutsy ride in Italy proved she has the ability to perform on the biggest days. Her best result here was fourth in 2022, but she has always been near the front of the race.

Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) ****

Tenacious, strong, and fast, Van Aert should be a favourite if he makes it to the velodrome in a small group, although history goes out of the window at Roubaix - just remember Mat Hayman vs Tom Boonen. The Belgian will have strong support from his team, and can surely better his two podium finishes here.

Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) ****

Not just wishful thinking, the under-23 world time trial champion is in the form of her life after fifth place at the Tour of Flanders last week, and has the power and the speed to make it happen at Roubaix. Would be an amazing moment.

Double junior world champion Cat Ferguson is set to become one of the youngest competitors ever at Paris-Roubaix this April.

The 18-year-old is down to make her debut at the cobbled Monument, as part of her stacked road calendar this season, which opens at this month’s Milan-San Remo.

Revealing her programme to Cycling Weekly, Ferguson said she’s expecting a “big jump” in her first full year as a pro.

“It’s crazy,” the Movistar rider said. “I think it’s incredible to just be in the position I am, but to be doing a race like Roubaix, I can’t tell you how excited I am to be able to do that race.

“Also, Carys [Lloyd, Movistar] and Imogen [Wolff, Visma-Lease a Bike] are doing the race, so for the three of us to do a race like that in our first year as a pro together is really special. We’ve come through the ranks from under-14s and we’re now doing Paris-Roubaix at 18-years-old together. It’s going to be incredible. Hopefully I can make it to the velodrome – that’s my aim.”

Ferguson impressed the cycling world last autumn when she won two of her first four pro races, riding as a pre-contract stagiaire for Movistar. She also claimed both the junior road race and time trial titles at the UCI World Championships, becoming the first rider to complete the double since Zoe Bäckstedt in 2022.

Having raced cyclo-cross through the winter months, Ferguson’s road debut this year is set for Milan-San Remo, the inaugural edition for women, on 22 March. “We don’t know the route yet, it’s not actually released, but it’s probably the longest race of the year,” she said, adding with a laugh: “I’m not feeling fit enough yet to want to know how long it is.”

The 18-year-old’s programme will then see her compete in a string of one-day Classics, including Gent-Wevelgem, Flèche Wallone, and Brabantse Pijl, before turning to stage races in Spain, and the Lloyds Tour of Britain.

“I’m really looking forward to the Tour of Britain,” she said. “I don’t know the route for that, but I’m hoping there’s [a stage] in Yorkshire. Getting some friends and family out to watch would be really special. And it’s the only [WorldTour] race that there is for women in Britain, so I’m excited for it.”

Ferguson's programme for the latter half of the year is yet to be decided, but she said she feels “lucky” to be given such opportunities over the next few months.

“It’s a balance of wanting to push me and show me what the level is, with races like Roubaix, but also not absolutely hammering me and doing all the big races,” she said of her calendar. “It’s also a nice balance that I will do some smaller races, where hopefully I can be a little bit more at the front, or survive for a little bit longer.”

Paris-Roubaix Femmes will take place on 12 April, two weeks before Ferguson’s 19th birthday.

Pfeiffer Georgi gave the setup on her team issue Scott Foil some of the credit for her podium ride at Paris-Roubaix Femmes on Saturday. 

After a barnstorming sprint finish in the Roubaix velodrome, Georgi grabbed third behind the race winner, Lotte Kopecky, and Lidl-Trek’s Elisa Balsamo. 

Standing on the edge of the track, the Londoner’s face exploded with joy when confirmation of her podium finish flashed across the big screens inside the arena. 

Earlier in the day, Cycling Weekly spotted an interesting addition to her bike, a Duncan SL Aero Comfort seat post, specially designed to absorb vibrations. Later on, when speaking to the media, Georgi praised her equipment setup and explained that it had helped her secure a podium finish. 

"I was really comfy today," she said. "We had a nice suspension in our seatpost, wider tyres and less pressure than we do for the other cobbled classics. Even in the recon, considering how tough they are, it actually was pretty smooth sailing on the cobbles. 

"I had full confidence in my bike, we’ve got great tyres as I had a little puncture but it actually sealed itself really early on. I had no problems later so I had full confidence in my materials and it got me to the podium."

Throughout the brutal day on the pavé, Georgi held her own alongside some of the biggest stars of women’s cycling. Georgi was ever present at the head of race alongside Kopecky, Marianne Vos and other star riders on the Lidl-Trek team. 

The 23-year-old explained that simply believing she belonged in the front group helped her hold her own alongside the world champion and ensured she could land a positive result in the final sprint for the line. 

"I think I believed coming into this race that i belonged in that top group," she said. "So I had a lot of confidence coming in. But it's nice to get that confirmation that I am at that level and belonged in that top group. So these results show what I believed before which was that I had the potential to do this in this spring period. 

"So yeah, I think it's nice to carry that forward for the rest of this year and next where I can make even more of a step up."

Much of the headlines in recent months have been based around the plight of the British domestic scene. Georgi said that her result in Roubaix was proof that the scene was still alive and that she hoped it could inspire future generations to come, as Lizzie Deignan’s victory had inspired her.

"Lizzie’s win here was monumental," she said. "She's always been one of my heroes growing up so that was a special moment back then. I think with me getting on the podium, I think it shows that there's a lot of British talent and in recent years there’s been a lot of riders stepping up to the WorldTour which is really nice to see.

"At that time, I didn't really know what sort of rider I was,” she added. “It was so exciting that we finally had this on our calendar. It’s really great to have such high profile calendars on our events like Roubaix and the Tour de France.

"At first I didn’t know if it would suit me, the first edition was pretty crazy for me, lots of crashes and bad luck…The last couple of years I’ve come back and got great results with two top ten finishes so I started to get a bit more of a better relationship with this race."

In the aftermath of her Paris-Roubaix Femmes victory, Lotte Kopecky praised her SD Worx teammates and said they had helped ensure she kept a calm and level head going into the cobbled Monument. 

The Belgian narrowly missed out on another Tour of Flanders victory last weekend which she explained only added extra determination to succeed this time out. 

Kopecky told the media post-race that the build up to Roubaix had been mixed with both nerves and excitement. She said that once the race started, that changed to confidence in her own ability as she could feel the faith that her teammates had in her and credited them for their part in the win. 

"I tried to stay as calm as possible today," she said. "After Sunday, the feeling was not what I wanted it to be but luckily I have really good friends, and a really good team behind me who really tried to keep me calm and gave me confidence. 

"They helped me try to spend these last few days with not too many worries…This morning of course, I was nervous but I was relaxed. I could really feel the confidence they had in me and I tried to take that good feeling with me into the race."

Kopecky was full of energy throughout the Monument and was regularly on the attack as each cobbled sector of the course arrived. In the end it came down to a dramatic sprint on the velodrome in which she got the better of Lidl-Trek’s Elisa Balsamo and Pfeiffer Georgi (dsm–firmenich PostNL). 

When asked whether her initial pre-race plan had worked, Kopecky said that everything had gone exactly as she expected, both on a personal level and for her team as a group. 

"It was exactly as we planned," she said. "We wanted to try to stay out of trouble in the first 60 kilometres and be right in front in the first three sectors… Before the first sector that I attacked on, I had Elena Cecchini who tried to position me and I knew I wanted to go there and see what happened."

The Dutch team, she explained, had the added bonus of having their star sprinter, Lorena Wiebes, in the chasing pack for if the race had come back together on the run in to the finish. 

"Of course going ahead with Marianne was not ideal for me," Kopecky said. "When I was with Marianne, I was just thinking that we still had the card to play with Lorena [Wiebes]. Today I really wanted to win myself but I was also really motivated that if there was a situation where we needed to go for it for Lorena, I was 110% committed to that."

As the lead group tore into the velodrome, the crowd erupted with delight at the sight of the world champion firmly in contention for the win. As well as her road world title, Kopecky holds multiple world titles on the track which led to some assuming she held the upper hand. 

Kopecky said that her track background hadn’t crossed her mind as she got ready to launch her sprint for the line. 

"Pfeiffer and Marianne also have track backgrounds," she said. "We all knew what we were doing. It's an advantage but I didn't think about it as they had this advantage too. It didn't really change anything for me, no."

"Before we came on the track it was already a big fight to try and get in position," she added. "Of course I knew that Marianne [Vos] and Elisa [Balsamo] would try to fight against each other and on the other side of the track there was a headwind. 

"They had to start the sprint pretty early so I tried to stay calm and start sprinting at the right moment. That was a long sprint but that's to my advantage and I did what I needed to do."

Lotte Kopecky sprinted to victory at Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift on Saturday afternoon, claiming SD-Worx Protime's first title in the race. 

The world champion was active throughout the 148.5km event, leading into the first cobbled sector and closing down moves throughout the day. Kopecky came into the velodrome in a six-rider group, and dashed from behind to beat Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) over the line. 

British national champion Pfeiffer Georgi (dsm-firmenich PostNL) pipped Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) to take the final podium spot. Ellen van Dijk and Amber Kraak (FDJ-Suez) were also part of the winning move. 

Kopecky's victory comes after two years of frustration for the Belgian at the race. In 2022, she finished second, having led the chase behind Elisa Longo Borghini. The 28-year-old found herself in pursuit again in 2023, that time finishing seventh, a handful of seconds behind the breakaway. 

The emotion of finally reaching the top step was clear as she crossed the line. Roaring into the wind, Kopecky drew her hands together in a thunderous clap, and then slapped her hands down on her legs. 

"This was the goal of the season," she said afterwards, her face covered in dirt, smiling back at the TV cameras. 

How it happened

Having remained together on the flat run-in, the peloton began thinning out from the first of 17 sectors. In total, the riders would face 29km of bone-rattling cobblestones, and as the first few appeared in front of them, Kopecky made her way to the front of the pack. 

With 53km to go, the world champion began to turn the screw. Accelerating over the cobbles, she drew with her three others –  Vos, Georgi (dsm-firmenich-PostNL) and Christina Schweinberger (Fenix Deceuninck) – and a front quartet went clear. 

The move, however, lasted just a handful of kilometres; it was reeled in by Lidl-Trek’s Van Dijk on Mons-en-Pévèle, the first of two five-star sectors. 

As the mood then relaxed, Jade Wiel (FDJ-Suez) picked an opportune moment to launch an attack of her own. The former French champion peeled off the front with 33km remaining, and quickly gained 30 seconds on the pack. There was no initial chase, but after 10km alone in the wind, Wiel was swallowed up, Van Dijk again responsible for closing the gap. 

The Dutchwoman then went on the attack herself, together with Amber Kraak (FDJ-Suez). Within 20km from the line, the leading duo were caught by Kopecky, Vos and Balsamo, and the five-rider group charged onto the race’s most brutal sector, the Carrefour de l’Arbre. Before the 2km stretch was over, Balsamo had been dropped off the back. 

Behind, Georgi chased doggedly. The British champion swept up Balsamo and, leaning over her handlebars, towed the Italian back onto the front group. Six riders then led into the finale.

Van Dijk swung first onto the outdoor velodrome, setting up the sprint for Balsamo. After working so hard to rejoin the front of the race, Georgi sprung a surprise early dash to the line, forcing her rivals to follow. Balsamo and Vos obliged, but as the sprinted side-by-side, they provided the perfect slipstream for Kopecky to round them and claim victory.

Standing red-eyed in the velodrome at the end, Balsamo summed up the day in four words. "Lotte was just stronger," she said. Finally, Kopecky had her Roubaix cobble.

Results

Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift 2024 (148.5km)

1. Lotte Kopecky (Bel) SD Worx-Protime, in 3-47-13
2. Elisa Balsamo (Ita) Lidl-Trek
3. Pfeiffer Georgi (GBr) dsm-firmenich PostNL,
4. Marianne Vos (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike
5. Amber Kraak (Ned) FDJ-Suez, all at same time
6. Ellen van Dijk (Ned) Lidl-Trek, +6s
7. Lorena Wiebes (Ned) SD Worx-Protime, +28s
8. Victoire Berteau (Fra) Cofidis
9. Marie Le Net (Fra) FDJ-Suez
10. Kimberley (Le Court) Pienaar (MUS) AG Insurance-Soudal Team, all at same time

Paris-Roubaix, one of the toughest races on the calendar, is often a show ground of the latest bike tech. 

This year is no different. On the ground in Denain, at the start of the fourth edition of the women's race, Cycling Weekly wandered through the team paddock in search of interesting trends and insights. 

We got the lowdown from team mechanics about tyre width and pressures, 1x drivetrains, and innovative products, designed to absorb the bone-shaking vibrations of the cobbles.

Here are six of the most noteworthy things we spotted. 

32mm tyres

Over the years, tyre width at Paris-Roubaix has been getting bigger and bigger. Speaking to Cycling Weekly, Magnus Bäckstedt said that he had to beg to be allowed to use 27mm tyres back when he won the race in 2004. Now, 32mm is commonplace. 

"When we tested over the last couple of weeks, it was really quite muddy," a Canyon-Sram mechanic explained. "The weather changed a lot, but we think there are still some sectors that are slippery, so with more traction and more volume in the tyres, it probably helps. With all the water, I think the cobbles are harder than before." 

The mechanic added that the Canyon-Sram squad was running pressures between 36psi (2.5 bar) and 43psi (3 bar) in Schwalbe's Pro One TLE tyres. 

32mm width was the general consensus around the paddock, with SD-Worx, EF Education-Cannondale, dsm-firmenich-PostNL and Lifeplus Wahoo all among the teams opting for it. 

Protoype tyres

Lidl-Trek were running unique tyres at Paris-Roubaix this year, prototype ones, in fact, from their sponsor Pirelli. 

The team, which won two of the first three editions of Paris-Roubaix, has been running the unreleased tyres throughout this Classics season, with Elisa Balsamo riding them to victory at the Classic Brugge-De Panne. 

It is thought that the prototype tyres are an update to Pirelli's P-Zero Race. Interestingly, Lidl-Trek were running 32mm ones, bigger than any of the current P-Zero Race offerings, which only come in 26mm, 28mm and 30mm.

1x drivetrains

Who needs a little chainring, anyway? With Paris-Roubaix effectively a pancake-flat race - only a couple of hundred metres of elevation over almost 150km - some squads decided to go with a 1x drivetrain. 

The teams in question were those who run Sram groupsets, most opting for a 52T chainring, with a 10-38T cassette. 

"Most Sram teams run a 1x for this race," Canyon-Sram's mechanic said. "They usually use them for cyclo-cross. It keeps the chain better on the system."

Among those running 1x were Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime), Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike), Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) and much of the Canyon-Sram team. 

Special, grippy bar tape

With the defending champion, Alison Jackson, in their ranks, EF Education-Cannondale set out in search of new marginal gains this time round. This included special, new bar tape from Prologo. 

The tape is equipped with the brand's volcano-shaped rubber Connect Power Control (CPC) material, which it often uses on its saddles. 

"It's mostly friction and padding," a team mechanic explained. "The CPC tendrils add that little bit of padding, kind of like a dual density in a way, soft on the top and firm underneath. We also have some silicone underneath that, mostly to round the bar a little bit.

"It adds grip when it’s muddy and wet. Today, we got lucky, it’s not really a big problem. But if it was raining and muddy, the riders really liked it.”

FDJ-Suez leader Grace Brown was also running the new Prologo bar tape. 

Vittoria 'control' tyres

The bar tape was one of two modifications EF Education-Cannondale made to their set-up. The American squad also swapped in special tyres, Vittoria's Corsa Pro Control, which were released last May, after last year's edition. 

The tyres retail at £90 a piece and come with adapted tread for a grippier feel over cobbles. As previously mentioned, EF Education-Cannondale chose to run sets at a width of 32mm. 

Visma-Lease a Bike and dsm-firmenich-PostNL, who also work with Vittoria, used the standard Corsa Pros. 

Vibration-absorbing seat posts

Something that caught our eye in the team paddock was dsm-firmenich-PostNL's seat posts with detachable componentry.

Closer inspection revealed them to be Duncan SL Aero Comfort seat posts, specially designed to help absorb vibrations. 

"There are two parts that give a little bit more dampening on the cobbles," a team mechanic told Cycling Weekly. "That’s not our standard for normal road races. There, we have a full carbon seat post. We had this one last year, testing with the men’s, but now we have the full set-up here. It’s the same as what the men will use on Sunday." 

Riders at Paris-Roubaix this weekend will be running tyre pressures as low as, and perhaps even lower than, 37psi (2.5 bar). 

The race, famous for its tough cobbled sectors, tends to bear witness to the lowest road race pressures of the year, as those competing look to balance comfort and speed. 

Cycling Weekly recently joined British women's Continental team Lifeplus-Wahoo and their wheel supplier Hunt on a recon of the race route. There, the team's smallest rider settled on a tyre pressure of 37psi for race day. 

"It's always astounding how low they need to go and quite how bad the cobbles are," said Hunt design engineer Paddy Brown. "We always thought we were going to be in the mid to high 30psi range, and that's where most of the riders ended up."

During the recon, Lifeplus-Wahoo rode 32mm tubeless tyres on hookless rims. A trend of wider tyres has become more prevalent at Roubaix over the last few editions. Speaking to Rouleur on Wednesday, former race winner John Degenkolb explained that he sized up to 32mm in 2023, having generally run 30mm in the past. 

An increase in tyre width goes hand in hand with lower pressures. "You used to see riders on 23mm tyres, whereas now everyone's on 32mm," Brown explained. "With that tyre volume, you can reduce the tyre pressure further without sacrificing too much rolling resistance from the road as well.

"If the pressure is too high, you start to skip and bounce over the cobbles. You're going to really suffer, basically, and you're going to be a lot slower."

Riders will typically run different pressures in their front and rear tyres, with more air in the rear to support where their weight is. 

"It's about trying to keep that centre of mass smooth," said Brown. "It basically means that, rather than the whole rider's mass being lifted up to get over that cobble, the tyre can just deform over it. You don't have to travel a zigzag path with your centre of mass, your centre of mass can just steamroll straight over the cobbles."

As women tend to be lighter than men, female riders can afford to run lower tyre pressures. In the team paddock at the men's race last year, mechanics were secretive about their choices, although the general consensus was a range of around 50psi (3.5 bar) to 65psi (4.5 bar). 

This Saturday, Lifeplus-Wahoo sprinter El King plans to run 37psi (2.6 bar) in her front tyre, and 40psi (2.8 bar) at the rear. This set-up, she explained, is "substantially lower" than what she uses for the rest of the season. 

"It's that balance between having enough for the tarmac sectors and making the difference on the cobbles," King said. "With thicker tyres, it makes a big difference. And with 30km of cobbles in the last 90km, it's a case of getting that balance right."

At the recent Nokere Koerse, a race held over cobbles in Belgium, King raced on pressures of 50psi (3.6) and 54psi (3.7 bar). Does she notice an increased rolling resistance when she's on the tarmac? "I don't personally, but you could whack my saddle up 5mm and I would also not realise," she laughed. 

This feature originally appeared in Cycling Weekly magazine on 6 April 2023. Subscribe now and never miss an issue.

There’s a certain pride that comes with finishing Paris-Roubaix. For the riders, it’s a badge of honour, unlike any other, that can only be earned on the harsh cobbles of northern France. 

Bernard Hinault, a five-time Tour de France champion, famously described the Monument as “une connerie” – bullshit. But while he managed to win it in 1981, others have not been so fortunate. Be it due to crashes, punctures or just bad luck, many find themselves in a different race, a battle against the clock, ticking down towards the time cut. 

It’s these riders, those at the back, who often force themselves to suffer the most. Reach the velodrome before the gates swing closed, and you gain a special feather in your cap. Here are the stories of those who made it.  

Martial Gayant - 1983, 32nd

Martial Gayant was just 20 years old when he rode his first elite Paris-Roubaix. He remembers waiting wide-eyed before the race, when a journalist approached him and explained he was working on a piece about the rider who finishes last. 

“I said to him, ‘Don’t worry, you won’t need to speak to me, I’m in great shape and my mindset is good. There’s not a chance I’ll finish last’,” the Frenchman tells Cycling Weekly. 

“Then, with 30km to go, I saw the journalist come alongside me, and I thought he was just there to say hello. I asked him, ‘Is the last placed rider far back?’ and he responded, ‘Umm, no. No, he’s not far, because it’s you.’ It was as if he’d smacked me around the head.”

That afternoon, Gayant recalls, the wind was blowing a gale. “It was a particularly exhausting Paris-Roubaix,” he says. “I think when the rest of the guys were empty, had no more strength, they decided to jump into the broomwagon. In those days, in the 80s, people questioned whether finishing a race was important. For me, it was.”

The Frenchman, now a sports director at Groupama-FDJ, crossed the line as the last of just 32 riders to finish within the time limit. He was 40 minutes down on the winner, Hennie Kuiper, and over seven minutes behind second to last place. 

Born in Chauny, less than 30 miles from the race start in Compiègne, Gayant had always dreamed of a high placing in his local race. After the disappointment of 1983, his career led him to stage wins at both the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia. He returned to Paris-Roubaix in 1990, more determined than ever, and ended up finishing fourth. 

“I stepped out of the shadows and into the light,” he says. “I went from riding into an empty velodrome to rapturous applause.” 

Had he not had a stone stuck in his chain, he might even have stood on the podium. “The following morning, the mechanics got our bikes out for us to do a two-and-a-half-hour ride,” he explains. “I managed two kilometres before my chain broke.” 

Mathew Hayman - 2008, 113th (1st in 2016)

“I started 17 Roubaixs and I finished all of them,” Mathew Hayman says proudly. “But I can tell you, the first couple of years, I wasn’t so sure. I copped a few hidings.” 

In 2008, riding for Dutch team Rabobank, the Australian found himself trailing the peloton, having stopped just before the Forest of Arenberg to offer his team-mate a wheel. By the time he got going again, the race had passed him by. 

“The only thing I remember is, by 10 minutes after the last group, people are starting to walk across the road, they’re all going home,” he says. “A lady stepped out in front of me and I cleaned her up. She went flying, I went flying. I was rather annoyed. I was pretty frustrated at this point, I was just wanting to get to the finish line and was just riding out the frustration that I didn’t even get a chance to race really. Yeah, I think I gave her a bit of a dressing down.”

Like Gayant 25 years before, Hayman finished alone, over 10 minutes behind the next best rider. 

“We only had one race car normally in Roubaix,” he explains. “Times have changed now, but I wouldn’t have seen anyone, I wouldn’t have got a bottle, all the people would have left. You would be lucky if they were waiting for you at the second feed [zone] because they need to get to the finish line.” 

Today, the Australian’s Paris-Roubaix results bear a special peculiarity. He’s part of an exclusive group of riders who have placed at either extreme of the race, finishing both first and last. The 2022 champion, Dylan van Baarle, also lays claim to the same feat. 

How did Hayman’s two experiences differ? “Well,” he says, “when I went in with Tom [Boonen, in 2016], I wasn’t exactly soaking up the atmosphere.” 

Jay Robert Thomson - 2017, 102nd

For over 100km, Jay Robert Thomson had only his bike for company in 2017. “I remember riding the Carrefour de l’Arbre and they had a big screen up there,” he says. “I slowed down because I could see them in the velodrome and I watched Greg Van Avermaet win. 

“Then I sat there and was like, ‘Hold on, I’ve got 15km to go, I have only 28 minutes to get to the finish line.’ I calculated that and calculated how fast I had to ride. I think when you ride at the back, that’s all you do, you just calculate how far to go and how long you have to make the time cut.” 

Growing up in South Africa, Paris-Roubaix always held a special place in Thomson’s heart. “We used to have a whole thing with my dad and we used to have friends over, watch Roubaix and have a little barbecue at home,” he says. “It was a little bit of a pride thing to get to the finish line.

“A couple of times with me and Roubaix, it was a love-hate thing. I loved doing the race, but it didn’t love me so much.” 

In five participations, only once did Thomson fail to reach the velodrome. His best placing came in 2018 when, riding for Team Dimension Data, he finished 54th. “Have you seen the picture?” he asks. “Go on the internet and search 2018 and go look at my hands. I had no skin left on both of my palms.” 

So bad was the pain, Thomson explains, that he took his left hand off the bars and rode the race one-handed. “Every time we hit the cobbles, I wanted to cry,” he says. “But I was one of those guys that didn’t like to give up. I hated stopping any race, and Roubaix even more so.” 

Emīls Liepiņš - 2021, 96th

Until 2023, Latvian road champion Emīls Liepiņš had only ever ridden one Paris-Roubaix - in fact, he had only ever ridden one Monument. Just his luck, then, that the one he took part in brought the worst weather conditions for a generation. 

It hadn’t rained on Paris-Roubaix for almost two decades before the 2021 edition, pushed back to autumn due to Covid. That day, the heavens opened over northern France. 

“I crashed in the first sector,” Liepiņš remembers. “When we went in, it was full with water, and you can’t see what’s under the water. I hit a big hole, lost my hands from the handlebars, hit my balls full-gas on the frame, crashed and broke my fork.

“I hit my balls so hard that I could push 100 watts maximum,” he laughs. “Now it’s funny, but I stood up and all the guys were passing me. I couldn’t pedal.” 

One by one, though, the Trek-Segafredo rider began reeling them back in, until a duo of untimely punctures left him with two flat tyres. By the time he rode into the velodrome, they were barely on the rims. 

“I was thinking, ‘For sure, I’m out of the time limit’, but people were shouting in the last kilometre and also in the velodrome because you can see [on electronic boards] what the time limit was.” 

In the end, Liepiņš made it by just 11 seconds. “It’s something that I will remember all my life,” he says. “I was the last one, and the feeling was like I was the winner because everyone was cheering for me so much. Afterwards, my face was on the front page of this French magazine, L'Équipe. Blue eyes, dirty face, it was crazy.” 

It would take two weeks and a course of antibiotics before Liepiņš could see clearly again. 

Josie Nelson - 2021, OTL

“I just remember being happy and smiling the entire race,” says British pro Josie Nelson, recalling her experience of the first-ever women’s edition of Paris-Roubaix. “I was definitely the happiest out of the team. A few of them, I think, just hated it. I still hear things now about people saying, ‘I don’t know why people like Paris-Roubaix, I’d never want to do it.’ And I’m just like, ‘Oh, that’s my favourite race.’” 

In 2021, fewer than half of the 129-strong field finished within the time limit behind the winner Lizzie Deignan. Nelson, unfortunately, was one of those who missed the cut. 

“When I got there, I didn’t know I was over the time limit because they let me finish the race. I was just ecstatic about actually finishing my first-ever Paris-Roubaix. When I found out, I was a bit disappointed, because obviously then I didn’t get a result. But, yeah, I was still happy to finish it.” 

The then 19-year-old had been counting down the days until the race. Having come from an off-road background, racing cyclo-cross and mountain biking, the slippery cobbles didn’t scare her. “I definitely went through quite a lot of mud,” she says, but not once did she crash. 

Instead, Nelson spent the day weaving in and out of the race convoy, dodging fallen riders, and avoiding the most bog-afflicted patches of road. The teenager’s heart rate stayed at around 180 beats per minute throughout - “I think some people would be gobsmacked by that,” she says.

In 2023, Nelson’s team Coop-Hitec Products wasn’t selected to take part in the race. Still, she hopes another chance will come one day soon. “There wasn’t a single moment when I thought I don’t want to be doing this,” she says of her ride in the 2021 edition. “I would do it again, 1,000 times, and hopefully I’d be closer to the front.” 

Not since 2010 has the same rider won the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. Back then, that rider was Fabian Cancellara. This year, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) will head into the 'Hell of the North' as the outstanding favourite, as defending champion, and off the back of an incredible ride at Flanders.

Major illness and injury issues across Visma-Lease A Bike's men's team put in doubt the big showdown between Wout van Aert and Van der Poel that most fans expected at this year's Roubaix.

Van Aert became the most high profile victim in last Wednesday's Dwars Door Vlaanderen, abandoning the race after coming down heavily in a big crash that was seemingly caused by a gust of wind. Multiple fractures including collarbone and ribs  ruled the Belgian out of this year's 'Hell of the North'.

This could mean that on-song Dane Mads Pedersen steps in to fill the breach opened by Visma's woes, joining Van der Poel in what would surely be the favoured pair in the men's event. While Pedersen was caught up in the same crash as the above at Dwars, he might have fully recovered by Roubaix.

The women's field has fortunately been less afflicted, with – at the time of writing – favourites such as Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) and her team-mate Lorena Wiebes both fit and on form. Lidl-Trek's Lizzie Deignan will however not ride, having broken her arm at the Tour of Flanders. Her in-form team-mate Elisa Balsamo will do though.

Kopecky, Wiebes, and their strong SD Worx team will be looking to bounce back at the first opportunity after a disappointing Flanders, but Lidl-Trek have been strong all Classics season, and might have found the key to countering SD Worx on the cobbles.

Meanwhile, Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) has won pretty much everything within her power other than Roubaix, and will be looking to add to her 250 road wins next Saturday. The list of further contenders is endless, especially when one reflects on Alison Jackson (EF Education-Cannondale) and her shock win from the break at last year's race. It could be anyone.

Paris-Roubaix 2024 Key Information

Date: Saturday April 6 (women); Sunday April 7 (men)
Location: Denain to Roubaix (women); Compiègne to Roubaix (men)
2023 winners: Mathieu van der Poel (men); Alison Jacksono (women)
TV: Discovery+/Eurosport
Distance: 148.5km (women); 259.7km (men)

Paris-Roubaix 2024 route

There are no dramatic course changes to either men's or women's races this year, which begin in Compiègne and Denain respectively and finish, of course, in the iconic Roubaix velodrome.

Both men's and women's races are three kilometres longer than last year, with the men riding more pavé than they have done in the past 30 years, thanks to a pair of returning sectors that have been inserted early on in the race at Briastre (sector 26) and Le Hameau de Buat (sector 24). The total number of cobbled sectors stays at 29, across a total 55.7km.

The women's race, while also gaining three kilometres to take it up to 148.5km in total, doesn't gain any new (or indeed returning) cobbles among its 17 sectors. Instead the course has been routed around a section deemed high-risk by organiser ASO, which adds the distance.

The Carrefour de l'Arbre (translated as crossroads of the tree) is a perennially significant sector in Paris-Roubaix that comes with around 15km left to ride. With each cobbled sector ranked out of five stars, the Carrefour is one of only three five-star sectors in the men's race, and only two in the women's. 

The race is often won here, as the final selection is made and the most tired riders are found out in the face of attacks by the strongest. Along with the four-star Camphin-en-Pevèle sector that softens up the riders' legs immediately beforehand, and the two-star Gruson sector that comes straight away afterwards, the Carrefour is the equivalent of the Oude Kwaremont-Paterberg double-punch in the Tour of Flanders.

Paris-Roubaix 2024 sectors

Each cobbled sector is ranked from one to five stars, with five the hardest. The women's race hits the cobbles at sector 17, Hornaing in Wandignies.

29: Troisvilles in Inchy (km 96 - 2,2 km) ***
28: Viesly in Quiévy (km 102,5 - 1,8 km) ***
27: Quiévy in Saint-Python (km 105,1 - 3,7 km) ****
26: Viesly in Briastre (km 111,3 - 3 km) ***
25: Vertain in Saint-Martin-sur-Ecaillon (km 122,6 - 2,3 km) ***
24: Capelle in Ruesnes (km 129,3 - 1,7 km) ***
23: Artres in Quérénaing (km 138,3 – 1,3 km) **
22: Quérénaing in Maing (km 140,1 – 2,5 km) ***
21: Maing in Monchaux-sur-Ecaillon (km 143,2 - 1,6 km) ***
20: Haveluy in Wallers (km 156,2 - 2,5 km) ****
19: Trouée d'Arenberg (km 164,4 - 2,3 km) *****
18: Wallers in Hélesmes (km 170,4 - 1,6 km) ***
17: Hornaing in Wandignies (km 177,2 - 3,7 km) ****
16: Warlaing in Brillon (km 184,7 - 2,4 km) ***
15: Tilloy in Sars-et-Rosières (km 188,2 - 2,4 km) ****
14: Beuvry in Orchies (km 194,5 - 1,4 km) ***
13: Orchies (km 199,5 - 1,7 km) ***
12: Auchy in Bersée (km 205,6 - 2,7 km) ****
11: Mons-en-Pévèle (km 211,1 - 3 km) *****
10: Mérignies in Avelin (km 217,1 - 0,7 km) **
9: Pont-Thibault in Ennevelin (km 220,5 - 1,4 km) ***
8: Templeuve - L'Epinette (km 225,9 - 0,2 km) *
8: Templeuve - Moulin-de-Vertain (km 226,4 - 0,5 km) **
7: Cysoing in Bourghelles (km 232,8 - 1,3 km) ***
6: Bourghelles in Wannehain (km 235,3 - 1,1 km) ***
5: Camphin-en-Pévèle (km 239,8 - 1,8 km) ****
4: Carrefour de l'Arbre (km 242,5 - 2,1 km) *****
3: Gruson (km 244,8 - 1,1 km) **
2: Willems in Hem (km 251,5 - 1,4 km) **
1: Roubaix (km 258,3 - 0,3 km) *

Paris-Roubaix 2024 riders to watch

Mads Pedersen
Lidl-Trek
****

A fast-finishing rouleur in the shape of one former 'Mr Paris-Roubaix' Tom Boonen, Pedersen is in the form of his life, and while few eyes will stray far from Van der Poel, former world champion Pedersen, who was fourth here last year, should not be discounted from taking his first victory in the famous Roubaix velodrome.

Matteo Jorgensen
Visma-Lease A Bike
***

One of the few riders in the Dutch team who has not at this point been hit by crashes or illness in the past weeks, it so happens that Jorgensen is also on great form, having won Dwars Door Vlaanderen last week with a late solo effort. Team-mate Tiesj Benoot, also riding well, could provide useful backup and a potential plan-B.

Mathieu van der Poel
Alpecin-Deceuninck
******

Van der Poel, the champion of Flanders for a third time, is on fiery, determined form. Instigating moves or pushing them to succeed, at this point he is the rider to beat. One issue for him could lie in the fact that Pedersen is the quicker finisher, so he will want to lose him before the finish.

Pfeiffer Georgi
dsm-firmenich PostNL
***

Georgi has always been there or thereabouts in the Classics, both this season and last – active in the moves but never topping the podium in the biggest races. However, she is still just 23 and only getting stronger. The London rider represents a serious podium threat and her big-name rivals will discount her at their peril.

Lotte Kopecky
SD Worx-Protime
*****

In Gent-Wevelgem Kopecky put in an early attack, she explained, just to stave off boredom – before going on to lead out her team-mate Lorena Wiebes for the win. With wins at Strade Bianche, the UAE Tour and Danilith Nokere Koerse already this season, she can afford to have fun and be generous too. But it feels like she is biding her time for Paris-Roubaix.

Marianne Vos
Visma-Lease A Bike
****

Paris-Roubaix is one of the few major Classics Vos has yet to win. At 36, the Dutchwoman continues to vie for the top places here, though this could be one of her last solid chances to win. She took 10th place last year at the head of a chasing group of favourites behind winner Alison Jackson (EF Education-Tibco-SVB). This season she has already won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, with a creditable ninth at Strade Bianche her most recent result.

Paris-Roubaix 2024 men's start list

Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team
GAUTHERAT Pierre
NAESEN Oliver
DE PESTEL Sander
BOASSON HAGEN Edvald
DE BONDT Dries
TOUZÉ Damien
LABROSSE Jordan

Alpecin-Deceuninck
PHILIPSEN Jasper
VAN DER POEL Mathieu
DILLIER Silvan
KIELICH Tim
PLANCKAERT Edward
RIESEBEEK Oscar
VERMEERSCH Gianni

Arkéa-B&B Hotels
SÉNÉCHAL Florian
BIERMANS Jenthe
MOZZATO Luca
GRONDIN Donavan
MCLAY Daniel
DEKKER David
SCOTSON Miles

Astana Qazaqstan
BOL Cees
MØRKØV Michael
GIDICH Yevgeniy
FEDOROV Yevgeniy
GRUZDEV Dmitriy
SELIG Rüdiger
SYRITSA Gleb

Bahrain-Victorious
WRIGHT Fred
WIŚNIOWSKI Łukasz
SCOTT Cameron
RAJOVIĆ Dušan
MIHOLJEVIĆ Fran
PASQUALON Andrea
GRADEK Kamil

BORA-Hansgrohe
MEEUS Jordi
HERZOG Emil
MACIEJUK Filip
HALLER Marco
LÜHRS Luis-Joe
MULLEN Ryan
WELSFORD Sam

Cofidis
NOPPE Christophe
RENARD Alexis
ALLEGAERT Piet
FRETIN Milan
ANIOŁKOWSKI Stanisław
DE GENDT Aimé
ROBEET Ludovic

EF Education-EasyPost
BISSEGGER Stefan
ROOTKIN-GRAY Jack
BETTIOL Alberto
DOULL Owain
RUTSCH Jonas
SWEENY Harry
VAN DER LEE Jardi Christiaan

Groupama-FDJ
KÜNG Stefan
ASKEY Lewis
BYSTRØM Sven Erik
LIENHARD Fabian
PITHIE Laurence
SARREAU Marc
RUSSO Clément

INEOS Grenadiers
TARLING Joshua
TURNER Ben
AUGUST Andrew
SWIFT Ben
SWIFT Connor
VIVIANI Elia
PIDCOCK Tom

Intermarché-Wanty
TEUNISSEN Mike
PAGE Hugo
REX Laurenz
PETIT Adrien
PLANCKAERT Baptiste
VAN HOECKE Gijs
MIHKELS Madis

Team Visma-Lease a Bike
LAPORTE Christophe
VAN BAARLE Dylan
AFFINI Edoardo
HAGENES Per Strand
VAN DIJKE Tim
VAN DIJKE Mick
VERMOTE Julien

Lidl-Trek
VACEK Mathias
PEDERSEN Mads
MILAN Jonathan
THEUNS Edward
HOOLE Daan
DECLERCQ Tim
VERGAERDE Otto

Movistar Team
LAZKANO Oier
JACOBS Johan
MORO Manlio
RANGEL Vinicius
GARCÍA CORTINA Iván
CAVAGNA Rémi
NORSGAARD Mathias

Soudal Quick-Step
ASGREEN Kasper
LAMPAERT Yves
MERLIER Tim
VAN LERBERGHE Bert
VANGHELUWE Warre
MOSCON Gianni
PEDERSEN Casper

Team dsm-firmenich PostNL
BITTNER Pavel
EEKHOFF Nils
DEGENKOLB John
EDDY Patrick
MÄRKL Niklas
NABERMAN Tim
VAN UDEN Casper

Team Jayco AlUla
REINDERS Elmar
FOLDAGER Anders
QUICK Blake
O'BRIEN Kelland
JANSEN Amund Grøndahl
WALSCHEID Max
DURBRIDGE Luke

UAE Team Emirates
WELLENS Tim
VINK Michael
POLITT Nils
MORGADO António
MOLANO Juan Sebastián
HODEG Álvaro José
BJERG Mikkel

Lotto-Dstny
BEULLENS Cedric
VAN MOER Brent
SEGAERT Alec
GRIGNARD Sébastien
GUARNIERI Jacopo
PAASSCHENS Mathijs
SLOCK Liam

Israel-Premier Tech
SHEEHAN Riley
HOFSTETTER Hugo
BOIVIN Guillaume
PICKRELL Riley
RAISBERG Nadav
VAN ASBROECK Tom
ZABEL Rick

Uno-X Mobility
WÆRENSKJOLD Søren
KRISTOFF Alexander
TILLER Rasmus
ABRAHAMSEN Jonas
FREDHEIM Stian
GUDMESTAD Tord
RESELL Erik Nordsæter

Bingoal-WB
DESAL Ceriel
DE MEESTER Luca
VAN DER BEKEN Aaron
WEEMAES Sasha
SALBY Alexander
VERMOOTE Jelle
BLOUWE Louis

Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team
CHRISTEN Fabio
LUDVIGSSON Tobias
MAŁECKI Kamil
MONK Cyrus  
ROSSKOPF Joey
STEIMLE Jannik
TOWNSEND Rory

Team Flanders-Baloise
VANHOOF Ward
HESTERS Jules
CRAPS Lars
VERCOUILLIE Victor
DEWEIRDT Siebe
VANDEVELDE Yentl
VANDENSTORME Dylan

TotalEnergies
TURGIS Anthony
DUJARDIN Sandy
VAN GESTEL Dries
BONIFACE Lucas
GACHIGNARD Thomas
JEANNIÈRE Emilien
MANZIN Lorrenzo

Paris-Roubaix 2024 women's start list

AG Insurance-Soudal Team
(LE COURT) PIENAAR Kimberley
RIJNBEEK Maud
PLUIMERS Ilse
BOOGAARD Maaike
LOUW Anya

Canyon-SRAM Racing
CHABBEY Elise
PALADIN Soraya
CROMWELL Tiffany
SKALNIAK-SÓJKA Agnieszka
BÄCKSTEDT Zoe
TOWERS Alice

Ceratizit-WNT
BERTON Nina
LACH Marta
ALONSO Sandra
DE ZOETE Mylène
FIDANZA Arianna
SCHWEINBERGER Kathrin

FDJ-SUEZ
BROWN Grace
KRAAK Amber
LE NET Marie
VERHULST-WILD Gladys
VIGILIA Alessia
WIEL Jade

Fenix-Deceuninck
CANT Sanne
TRUYEN Marthe
DE WILDE Julie
KUIJPERS Evy
COUZENS Millie
SCHWEINBERGER Christina

Human Powered Health
WOOD Alice
GROSSETÊTE Maëlle
CORDON-RAGOT Audrey
KASPER Romy
RAGUSA Katia
WILLIAMS Lily

Lidl-Trek
VAN DIJK Ellen
BALSAMO Elisa
BRAND Lucinda
SANGUINETI Ilaria
BÄCKSTEDT Elynor
HANSON Lauretta

Liv-AlUla-Jayco
PATE Amber
PATERNOSTER Letizia
CAMPBELL Teniel
HOWE Georgie
KOREVAAR Jeanne
SMULDERS Silke

Movistar Team
RUIZ PÉREZ Laura
RUIZ PÉREZ Lucía
GUTIÉRREZ Sheyla
SIERRA Arlenis
NORSGAARD Emma
BIANNIC Aude

Roland
COLES-LYSTER Maggie
COLLINELLI Sofia
EKLUND Nathalie
NGUYỄN Thị Thật
SWINKELS Sylvie
VETTORELLO Giorgia

dsm-firmenich PostNL
GEORGI Pfeiffer
KOOL Charlotte
BARBIERI Rachele
HENGEVELD Daniek
KOCH Franziska
NELSON Josie

SD Worx-Protime
MARKUS Femke
KOPECKY Lotte
WIEBES Lorena
GUARISCHI Barbara
MAJERUS Christine
CECCHINI Elena

Visma-Lease a Bike
VON BERSWORDT Sophie
NOOIJEN Lieke
VOS Marianne
VIGIE Margaux
RIEDMANN Linda
VEENHOVEN Nienke

UAE Team ADQ
CONSONNI Chiara
CARBONARI Anastasia
HOLDEN Elizabeth
KUMIEGA Karolina

Uno-X Mobility
CONFALONIERI Maria Giulia
AHTOSALO Anniina
ANDERSEN Susanne
DIDERIKSEN Amalie
KOERNER Rebecca

Cofidis Women
CASTRIQUE Alana
BERTEAU Victoire
FORTIN Valentine
ROY Sarah
TALBOT Josie
VAN HAAFTEN Kirstie

Lifeplus Wahoo
KING Eluned
LEECH Madelaine
VAN DER WOLF Babette
BURLOVÁ Kristýna
RYSZ Kaja
GONZÁLEZ Alicia

St Michel-Mavic-Auber93
AVOINE Alison
FOURNIER Roxane
POMPANON Margot
ROUSSEL Elyne
LE MOUEL Célia
FAHY Camille

EF Education-Cannondale
BORGHESI Letizia
JACKSON Alison
HENTTALA Lotta
KESSLER Nina
LABECKI Coryn
RÜEGG Noemi

Arkéa-B&B Hotels
LE DEUNFF Marie-Morgane
FAHLIN Emilia
FOUQUENET Amandine
MORICHON Anais
TRÉGOUËT Maurène
DE FRANCESCO Danielle

Team Coop-Repsol
TACEY April
RÅNES BYE Camilla
GREENWOOD Monica
KAGEVI Stina
TUISK Aidi Gerde
VAN ROOIJEN Eline

VolkerWessels Women's Pro Cycling Team
BEULING Femke
VAN HELVOIRT Lisa
POLAND Meis
VANHOVE Marith
SOUREN Scarlett
VAN ROOIJEN Sofie

Team Komugi-Grand Est
MAGRI Silvia
MILETTE Laury
PÉLOQUIN Joséphine
BURI Fabienne
KVASNIČKOVÁ Eliška

Winspace
VALENTIN Constance
AUBRY Julia
BERNARD Floraine
NERLO Aurela
TANG Xin
ZENG Luyao

This article is part of Cycling Weekly's 'the ride that changed me' series. Our writers hear from a range of professional and ex-professional cyclists about that one day on the bike that changed the trajectory of their career for good. 

Elisa Longo Borghini is one of a select few riders that can count a huge, Paris-Roubaix cobblestone trophy amongst her collection. Only some of the very best Classics riders - Eddy Merckx, Lizzie Deignan, Peter Sagan and Tom Boonen to name a few - can do likewise. 

As the second-ever winner of the women’s edition of the iconic cobbled classic, you would be forgiven for assuming that Longo Borghini would have highlighted her Roubaix win as that ride that changed her. The reality is that the big turning point in her career came far earlier than that fabled day in Belgium. 

The Italian Classics star tells Cycling Weekly that one of the biggest turning points in her career came on a rain swept afternoon in Varese, northern Italy. 

“So the ride that changed me was [Trofeo Alfreda] Binda 2013 which sounds like ages ago,” she says. “Actually, it is a while ago now and I won that race.”

“It was a very cold, rainy and grey day,” she adds. “It was my first World Cup - because at the time there were still World Cups - victory in all my career and the second victory in my life as an elite rider. 

“I was just delighted to win the race, I was really not expecting it because I was coming from 10 days where I was doing only easy rides because I had a problem with my left calf muscle. I just went into the race with no pressure and no thoughts [of winning].”

Riding for the Hitec Products UCK team at the time, Longo Borghini came up against several riders that she would eventually call teammates later on in her career at Trek-Segafredo (now Lidl-Trek). 

She recalls that when it came to crunch time and she decided to launch her race winning move, only one of those future teammates could follow. 

“I remember attacking on a descent because it was really wet,” she says. “I was like, 'okay, I'll try to make my attack here' and then I went away and only Spratty [Amanda Spratt] could follow me. 

"We stayed together for a little bit and then I dropped her on the last climb. When I crossed the line, I was really freezing but I was not feeling anything at the time because it was so much to enjoy.”

Nowadays when crossing the line first, Longo Borghini, like most other riders, would no doubt be seen sipping a recovery drink as she makes her way to the podium. But not back then. 

After such a foul day on the bike in bleak conditions, there was only one thing for it. Descend on the nearest restaurant to enjoy good food and drink and celebrate a momentous victory with friends and family. 

“After that I remember that we went to a restaurant and we ate two pizzas. I mean, I ate two pizzas,” she says with a laugh. “It was because I was so hungry and my parents were so happy and they were like 'okay, we just eat whatever we want' and I remember eating two pizzas and still being hungry because of the ride.

“So yeah, the reason why I chose this race is because I was really young at the time and I had no knowledge of where I could stand in the elite peloton. 

"There I realised that I could actually be quite alright and that my dreams could become true. And here I am now talking about it.”

Join us for the next instalment of 'the ride that changed me' in a fortnight's time.

Ask any rider about Paris-Roubaix, and they'll tell you it's a race like no other. 

Some fear the cobbled Monument, namely the narrow, rugged farm tracks on which it takes place. For others, the unpredictability brings great joy.

Across this year's men's and women's editions, 20 British riders set out to conquer the Hell of the North. Here are the stories of four of them, all debutants, and what they had to endure to reach the velodrome.

Josh Tarling - Outside time limit

There was one statistic on everyone’s lips at the start line of the men's Paris-Roubaix in Compiègne. Josh Tarling, just 19 years and 53 days old, was set to become the youngest male rider since 1937 to compete in the race. 

The day turned out to be a baptism of fire for the Welshman. With 150km to go, Tarling crashed with his Ineos Grenadiers team-mate Luke Rowe, bloodying his knee and tearing through his kit. He ended up riding over 100km alone to Roubaix Velodrome, where he finished six and a half minutes adrift of the time cut. 

How did he find the race? “Long,” he smiled, standing proudly under the sun. “[I had] a crash and two punctures, so I’ve done Paris-Roubaix right, no?” 

For Tarling, abandoning the race was never an option. “My girlfriend would shout at me if I didn’t make it here," he said. "It’s just Paris-Roubaix, isn’t it? You have to finish.” 

Speaking to Cycling Weekly by the team bus, the teenager’s girlfriend Grace concurred. “I knew that he wouldn’t be happy with himself truly if he didn’t get to the finish line,” she said. “He’s very determined. If he wanted to get to the line he would, and he did.”

Grace travelled to Roubaix with Tarling’s family, who cheered from the stands of the velodrome as he rode a solitary lap and a half. The sight brought his mother Dawn to tears. 

“He’s that kind of rider,” Dawn said. “He’ll always finish, so we waited because we knew he’d come. When we saw him, it was just awesome.”

Though Sunday’s race marked Tarling’s senior Roubaix debut, he had already completed the junior event twice. His father Michael explained that bad luck has been a constant across his experiences. 

“In the youth race, he was in a breakaway and there was a level crossing that came down and they didn’t give them the time back again," he said. "Then last year, I think he crashed. He deserves a good ride here one day.” 

Zoe Bäckstedt - 46th

Zoe Bäckstedt came into her first Paris-Roubaix with a simple goal in mind. “If I can finish it,” she told Cycling Weekly ahead of the race, “then that’s a great day for me.” 

The 18-year-old cut a relaxed figure at the team presentation in Denain. Like Tarling, she would be the youngest rider in the race, but with a lifetime’s worth of advice from her father Magnus - winner of the 2004 edition - and his old Speedplay pedals, she felt better prepared than anyone. 

In the end, the day was everything she had expected. “It was carnage, it was fast,” she said afterwards. “My legs were struggling, and it was just [about] trying to hold it [the bike] upright. There were a tonne of people crashing on the small parts that were slippery.”

Alongside her, in the race convoy with Canyon-Sram, her father kept a watchful eye. “He drove past me at one point when I was at the back and stuck his hand out the window and just gave me a thumbs up,” she said. “I know he’s in a different car, but he still looks out for me, which is really nice.” 

As for Bäckstedt’s team, EF Education-Tibco-SVB, the race played out like a dream. While the teenager spent the day in the peloton, her team-mate Alison Jackson was up the road in the breakaway, crafting a career-defining victory. Bäckstedt knew nothing of it. 

“I couldn’t hear anything on the radio for the last 50km,” she said. “I came into the velodrome and looked up at the big screen, because I knew the winner would be up there and I just saw AJ sprinting and then celebrating. 

“I think I just screamed for that whole lap and a half round the velodrome. When I saw my soigneur, I was like ‘AJ won! AJ won!’ I kid you not, I just cried.” 

Sam Watson - 121st

Twenty-one-year-old Sam Watson swung into Roubaix Velodrome wincing. He held his bars loosely - one hand on the hoods, the other in the drops - and gritted his teeth as he rounded the final bend. When he stepped off his bike, he stood, dazed, and stared down at his bare, blistered palms. 

“My body’s in pieces,” he told Cycling Weekly. “My hands, all the skin’s come off. That hurt more than my legs today.” 

The Groupama-FDJ rider began the race wearing gloves, but as the cobbled sectors clocked up, and the attrition bedded in, the friction grew unbearable. The only option was to take them off.

“I just had to ride the sectors without trying to put my palms on the handlebars,” he said. “Everything hurts. I’ve got blisters on my feet, no skin on my hands, back hurts. Luckily I’ve got a few days off now.” 

Asked to recount his day, Watson began at Haveluy, the sector before the Forest of Arenberg, where the winning move went. “That’s where it really kicked off,” he said. “I took Stefan [Küng] into it, just behind [Mathieu] Van der Poel and Wout [van Aert]. I was going as hard as I could already, I couldn’t follow them. And then from there really it was just a battle to the finish.

“Of course, I would’ve liked to have been there a bit more at the end, but I couldn’t hold my handlebars. Over the sectors, it was just agony.” 

Alice Towers - 23rd

Initially a reserve, British road champion Alice Towers only got the call-up to this year’s Paris-Roubaix two weeks before the race. “I was really nervous,” she said afterwards, which is why she chose to escape up the road. 

There, safe from the perilous proximity of the bunch, she rode for 100km as part of the breakaway group from which Alison Jackson eventually won. 

“I’d been on one recon, and I just sort of dived in,” Towers told Cycling Weekly. “The plan was to be vigilant. I was more of a support rider for the first bit of the race, and then the break actually went quite a long way, and I was there at the very end. So I’m pleased about that.”

On her Roubaix debut, the 20-year-old crossed the line in 23rd place, half a minute down on the winner. When she found out her companions stayed away, she rued the moment she lost contact, which came on an unsuspecting motorway bridge between the final sectors. “It just caught me by surprise,” she said. “But I was gone. I was pretty cooked anyway, so I don’t know what I could have done.”

Face muddied, Towers stood in the velodrome and shook out her arms, sore from the bone-shaking terrain. “I think they’ll be bruised tomorrow,” she laughed, before reflecting once more on the race she had just finished.

“I’m happy to have ticked it off,” she said. “[Beforehand], everyone was just like, ‘Oh my god, the Hell of the North, it’s crazy there. It’s horrible.’ But actually, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.”

When Alison Jackson and her breakaway companions turned into the Roubaix velodrome, they were met with a wall of noise. 

It was a roar of encouragement, but also surprise. For the best part of three hours, the breakaway had been engaged in a suspenseful will they, won’t they at Paris-Roubaix, growing a six-minute gap, before seeing it reduced to seconds before the finale. 

It was only when they swung into the velodrome, that the crowds knew they’d do it. 

There, on the exit of the final bend, Jackson picked her moment, springing out of the pack, and riding alone across the line. She raised her arms in disbelief. 

For the Canadian, the moment was a “dream come true". 

“I always say I love bike racing. I love the chaos, I think it’s so fun. But there’s a special type of fun when you win,” the 34-year-old told Cycling Weekly and other outlets in a press conference. “As a Canadian, to win this race is pretty monumental for cycling in Canada. For me, [it’s] my biggest win of my career. Yeah, a dream come true.”

It wasn’t until she was 26 years old, in 2015, that Jackson first joined the pro ranks. She’s a former national champion, both on the road and against the clock, but before this weekend, had only tasted WorldTour success at the Simac Ladies Tour, where she won a stage two years ago. 

The road to Roubaix had been fraught with setbacks. In March, a crash at the Ronde van Drenthe left the EF Education-TIBCO-SVB rider with a hole in her knee, one so deep it required four stitches to fix. “That’s why I wear knee warmers when I’m racing,” she explained. “Just to have a patch on, I’ve got to keep it clean. It’s not totally healed yet, but yeah, bike racers have to be tough, and crashing is a part of it.

“Once you’re in the race, you just forget about it and go. You got to use what you got.” 

What Jackson had, in the end, was a turn of pace that her five companions couldn’t match. Standing on the podium under a blanket of clouds, she grinned as her proud team-mates cheered her, sat in a line against the barriers. Jackson lifted her trophy - a bulky cobble - and pulled it into her chest.

She patted it proudly during the press conference. “I grew up on a farm in rural Alberta, and one of the things I had to do as a kid was go into the field and pick rocks by hand,” she said. “Lo and behold, me, and I’m picking another rock, and I’m taking it home.” 

More than any other race, Paris-Roubaix is a race where someone can surprise the field and take an unexpected win. The old adage goes that one has to keep riding, because you never know what happens over the seemingly endless cobbled sectors.

Just ask Mat Hayman, who shocked by winning in front of Tom Boonen in 2016, or Florian Vermeersch, who unexpectedly finished second in the muddy Roubaix of 2021.

Truth be told, none of the riders in this list are quite as surprising as that pair, and would not be thought of actual outsiders should they triumph in the velodrome, but it certainly would be unexpected, especially given the strength in depth of both the men's and women's peloton.

It's harder to nail down what would be a surprise in Paris-Roubaix Femmes, due to the nascent nature of the race; as it is in just its third edition, no one can be quite sure how the race is supposed to go.

The men's race is just as chaotic, but there is 120 years of history to look back on and pore over in guessing who is going to win. However, as I said, none of the four male 'wildcard' picks are totally out of left-field, given all four have finished on the podium of monuments in the past.

Read our lists of the favourites for the men's Paris-Roubaix, and favourites for Paris-Roubaix Femmes, as well as our how to watch Paris-Roubaix guide, and our page on the route and start lists.

Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers)

Paris-Roubaix sort of has Filippo Ganna's name written all over it. The flat, power race is the perfect setting for the Hour Record holder to show his watt-producing prowess, but it has not quite happened yet.

The Italian won the under-23 version of the race, as did Tom Pidcock, but this is not the best predictor of future success at Roubaix, as the list of its winners shows.

However, one can picture the Ineos Grenadiers rider powering off on the flat, just as his former teammate Dylan van Baarle did last year. He was 35th on that occasion.

"Paris-Roubaix is like playing Russian Roulette" Ganna said this week. "Each time, you pull the trigger and you hope that the bullet doesn't come out."

Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx)

Can you be a wildcard if your team wins every cobbled Classic and you are one of the best riders in the world? It's an interesting question.

Lorena Wiebes is not quite enough of a cobbled specialist to be among the absolute favourites for Roubaix, but if she is there at the end of the race in the velodrome, few would bet against her in a sprint finish.

The Dutch SD Worx rider has won three races this season, including Scheldeprijs on Wednesday, and made the elite selection at the Tour of Flanders last weekend, so is clearly on good form. 

With Lotte Kopecky her team's undisputed leader, one could see the flying Dutchwoman sneaking into a chasing group and then triumphing at the end of the 145km race. 

Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Victorious)

Another rider who is not so much 'outside the box' as much as just not one of the top favourites, Matej Mohorič finished fifth at Paris-Roubaix last year, but for a time looked like he could be on to win, and might just do that again.

The Slovenian has had a good Classics season, finishing third at Kuurne-Bruxelles-Kuurne, sixth at Strade Bianche, and eighth at Milan-San Remo, which he won last year, and seventh at the E3 Saxo Classic. He might have abandoned the Tour of Flanders last week, but will be motivated for something special on the cobbles of northern France.

His Bahrain-Victorious team, with Fred Wright, Andrea Pasqualon and Jonathan Milan, is relatively strong, and Mohorič could be the next rider to solo to victory.

Lucinda Brand (Trek-Segafredo)

Lucinda Brand finished third at Paris-Roubaix last year, so again, is not exactly a ridiculous choice for who will win over the cobbles. If her Trek-Segafredo team are to keep up its record of winning every single Roubaix with a different rider, then one would imagine it would either be Brand or Elisa Balsamo to succeed Lizzie Deignan and Elisa Longo Borghini.

The cyclo-cross star has the bike handling skills to help her at Roubaix, and her 12th place at the Tour of Flanders shows that she is in good form. However, her challenge is to surmount the overwhelming strength in depth that SD Worx will present, which might prove too difficult.

Sep Vanmarcke (Israel-Premier Tech)

It would be a shock if Sep Vanmarcke won Paris-Roubaix. Not because he doesn't have the skills to triumph over pavé, but because he has so often been the nearly man, and never the champion.

The Belgian, now at Israel Premier-Tech, has finished fourth at Roubaix three times, sixth once, and ten years ago, he finished second behind Fabian Cancellara in the velodrome.

At 34, Vanmarcke is not over the hill yet; his third place at Gent-Wevelgem proved that he still has a result in him, but he would need to overcome his runner-up status to win. It might be too much.

He was supposed to be the coming thing in Belgian cycling for so long, now, on the way down from his peak, perhaps there is one more big ride in him. Perhaps.

Audrey Cordon-Ragot (?)

The main reason Audrey Cordon-Ragot is a wildcard is because at time of writing the Frenchwoman's new team has not been announced. There have been rumours linking her to Human Powered Health - a team with a convenient spot free on the startlist - something the UCI's website appears to confirm, but the news is yet to be released by the American squad. 

She left Zaaf due to riders being left unpaid, and was previously involved in the collapse of the B&B Hotels project, so Cordon-Ragot has a lot to make up for. If she won, expect an angry celebration.

It's not impossible to imagine either, with the 33-year-old finishing eighth in the first edition of the race, and taking top fives this year in both the Omloop van het Hageland and Le Samyn des Dames in February.

Florian Vermeersch (Lotto Dstny)

Feels reasonably ridiculous putting a man in as a wildcard who finished second at Paris-Roubaix as recently as 2021, but Florian Vermeersch is certainly not a top-tier favourite, and it would be a surprise if he triumphed.

However, the 24-year-old has had a solid, if not spectacular, Classics season, the highlight of which was being in the decisive move at the Tour of Flanders last weekend, eventually finishing 12th.

Vermeersch now has the experience of two Roubaixs behind him to take into this year's edition, and if he finds himself up the road again, do not count against him.

Arlenis Sierra (Movistar)

Fifth at Danilith Nokere Koerse, fourth at the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, and tenth at the Tour of Flanders, Arlenis Sierra is improving in Classics racing, and has a sprint that does not seem to be heavily impacted by great distance. 

The Cuban Movistar rider won the bunch sprint for fourth place at Flanders last year, and should she make the velodrome in a small group, would bet on her speed to take her to victory.

It's her speed which might make other teams loathe to bring back one of her teammates should they go up the road, in the knowledge that Sierra was in the bunch, so Movistar could use this tactic to make hay. 

If there’s one race in particular that double junior world champion Zoe Bäckstedt has been looking forward to, it’s Paris-Roubaix. 

She wasn’t sure if she’d ride it this season. After all, she’s only been a pro for three months. But after a strong showing in the early-season Classics, the 18-year-old has cemented her place at EF Education-TIBCO-SVB, and can’t hold back her excitement to take the start line on Saturday. 

“I did a recon yesterday with the girls and we hit the first sector of cobbles and I was just like, ‘Yeah, I do really love this race’,” Bäckstedt tells Cycling Weekly in northern France.

“Every time I hit the cobbles, I had a, well, I say little smile on my face, it was a pretty big smile. I was just loving it, following the girls, following how they were navigating the sectors. 

“Obviously it’ll be different in the race to riding with five other people, but yeah, it’s going to be carnage.” 

Carnage, it seems, that Bäckstedt is more than prepared for. Under the tutelage of her father Magnus, winner of the 2004 men’s edition of the race, the teenager has spent a lifetime learning ahead of her Paris-Roubaix debut. 

“He’s been giving me tips for this race my whole life,” she says. “I already know everything that there is to know about this race, about every single sector pretty much. I’ve got enough information off of him over the years.”

When Bäckstedt lines up for tomorrow's départ in Denain, she’ll do so alongside her older sister, Elynor, who rides for Trek-Segafredo, as well as her father, now a sports director at Canyon-Sram.

It’s a moment she expects to be “full of emotions”, before her focus turns to the jagged, bone-shaking cobbles and her duties with her EF Education-TIBCO-SVB team.

What’s the junior world champion expecting from her first Roubaix? “A lot of crashes,” she says matter-of-factly. “It’s been raining here all day, so I think it’s going to be pretty slippery out on the course. 

“We went out yesterday and there was one sector that had a lot of standing water in the corners. Considering I was riding legs out, in a summer jacket, I was pretty shocked when I saw it."

For her race debut on Saturday, Bäckstedt's goal is simple: reach the finish line. 

“If I could do that, then that’s a great day for me," she says. "I’m a first-year pro, racing Paris-Roubaix. It’s pretty big. So yeah, If I can finish it, if I can help someone in the team out, get someone in the front group, then that will be great. I’m going out there to enjoy it, as well.” 

Already this season, the teenager has made an impression at EF. She worked her way into a promising move at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, and raced to 13th at Dwars door Vlaanderen. Still, she says, the step-up from the junior ranks has been marked. 

“[At Gent-Wevelgem], my Wahoo file was 100km more than what I raced at junior road Worlds,” she says. “By the time we’d gotten to the hills, I’d already done longer than I was racing as a junior. So considering I was still there at the finish of that one, I’m pretty proud of myself.” 

“It’s been a big few months,” Bäckstedt continues. “It’s been tough at times, obviously, but it’s going to be for everyone, no matter if you’re coming up from junior or if you’ve been racing for years. It’s always going to be tough racing with these fields, because they’re all super strong. But I feel like I’ve been ok.”  

Wout van Aert finally added a cobbled monument to his palmares this year when he beat Tadej Pogačar to victory in the Roubaix velodrome. Van Aert's team meat Marianne Vos almost made it two out of two for Visma-Lease a Bike a few hours later, but was pipped to the line by FDJ Suez's Franziska Koch in what was a surprise win .

2026 brought both men's and women's races together on the same day for the first time; done for security and financial reasons, according to the race organisers ASO. However it resulted in less TV coverage for the women's race.

One of the oldest, most prestigious, and most popular races on the calendar, the 'Hell of the North' – or 'Queen of the Classics' – can be in turn dusty and dry, or wet and muddy, but it is always a spectacle. The race is infamous for its pavé, or cobbles, which are divided into sectors and given a star rating from one to five depending on their severity - dictated by length and how rough the cobbles are..

Paris-Roubaix 2026: Key details

The men's race has not started in the French capital of Paris since 1965, but rather a few miles north in the town of Compiègne. From there, the riders embark on a gruelling 260km ride to Roubaix, on the boarder with Belgium. The women's race starts in Denain, around 60km south of Roubaix, and follows a winding parcours taking in 17 of the most famous sectors.

The finish is unique, with a short sector of easy, municipal cobbles leading riders onto Roubaix's outdoor velodrome where they complete a lap and a half before crossing the finish line. The race comes a week after the Tour of Flanders, is the third monument of the year and is the climax of the Northern cobbled Classics season.

This will be the sixth edition of the women's race – the Paris-Roubaix Femmes – which was won last year by French rider Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) with a 25km solo move.

Mathieu van der Poel again in 2025, becoming only the third rider ever to have won three Paris-Roubaix on the trot after Octave Lapize and Francesco Moser, after attacking with Tadej Pogačar and seeing the Slovenian lose touch at 38km to go following a crash.

>>> 12 pictures that show just how tough the Paris-Roubaix cobbles are

Key info: Key sectors | Route & Start list | How to watch - 2025 details TBC

Paris-Roubaix 2026: The route

The routes for this year's races have yet to be announced by organiser ASO, and we'll update this page as soon as they are. In the meantime, you can expect them to closely follow that of last year. It would be a surprise if there was anything beyond minor tweaking.

For example, last year the men's Paris-Roubaix featured one additional cobbled sector compared to 2024, bringing the total to 30. One of the early sectors was binned, and two have been added around Quérénaing: a 1.3km sector at Artres and a 1.2km sector at Famars, both shortly after the 130km mark.

A controversial chicane on the entrance to the feted (and feared) Arenberg sector of pavé was also replaced with "a small detour" along the Arenberg mining site, according to the organisers, which packs in four right-angle corners into the kilometre just before the cobbles.

The women's route was unchanged from the previous year's: 148.5km from Denain to the famous Roubaix velodrome, featuring 17 cobbled sectors - the last 17 on the men's route - including the challenging sections of Mons-en-Pévèle and Carrefour de l’Arbre. In total, the women tackled 29.2km of cobbles, although once again the Arenberg did not make the cut - the infamous sector has never featured in the women's race.

Paris-Roubaix: Previous winners

2026: Wout van Aert (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike
2025: Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Deceuninck
2024: Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Deceuninck
2023: Mathieu van der Poel (Ned) Alpecin-Deceuninck
2022: Dylan Van Baarle (Ned) Ineos Grenadiers
2021: Sonny Colbrelli (Ita) Bahrain Victorious
2020: No race due to Covid-19
2019: Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Quick-Step Floors
2018: Peter Sagan (Svk) Bora-Hansgrohe
2017: Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing
2016: Mathew Hayman (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
2015: John Degenkolb (Ger) Giant-Alpecin
2014: Niki Terpstra (Ned) Etixx - Quick-Step
2013: Fabian Cancellara (Sui) Team RadioShack
2012: Tom Boonen (Bel) Omega-Pharma - Quick-Step
2011: Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Garmin-Cervélo
2010: Fabian Cancellara (Sui) Team Saxo Bank
2009: Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step
2008: Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step
2007: Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Team CSC
2006: Fabian Cancellara (Swi) CSC ProTeam
2005: Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic
2004: Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Alessio-Bianchi
2003: Peter Van Petegem (Bel) Lotto-Domo
2002: Johan Museeuw (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites
2001: Servais Knaven (Bel) Domo-Farm Frites

Paris-Roubaix Femmes: Previous winners

2026: Franziska Koch (Ger) FDJ-Suez
2025: Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Fra) Visma-Lease a Bike
2024: Lotte Kopecky (Bel) SD Worx-Protime
2023: Alison Jackson (Can) EF Education–Tibco–SVB
2022: Elisa Longo-Borghini (Ita) Trek-Segafredo
2021: Lizzie Deignan (GBr) Trek-Segafredo

External links: Official website | Official Twitter feed