After an epic Sunday of racing at the Tour of Flanders on Sunday, the men’s and women’s pelotons have little time to rest before the next big appointment at Paris-Roubaix arrives on April 12, with cycling’s Holy Week now turning focus to the pavé of northern France.
While both categorised as cobbled Monuments, the two Classics do differ, both in the amount of climbing, risk, and just how ruthless the placement of the cobblestones are, with the French race offering the flatter, but more dangerous and unpredictable parcours.
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For the first time, the races will be run on the same day, with 30 iconic sectors in the former and 20 in the latter, and are set to decide two worthy winners in the iconic Roubaix Vélodrome (André-Pétrieux), but what clues about who that might be did Flanders provide?
The superstars converged in both races, with Tadej Pogačar defeating Mathieu van der Poel and Remco Evenepoel for a record-equalling third men’s title, while Demi Vollering climbed away from the field for her first Flanders triumph, beating Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Puck Pieterse in second and third.
None of the women’s podium are down to race the third Monument of the season, so the action and tactics behind them is what Flanders signposted for Paris-Roubaix Femmes. But the men’s race is a different story, with Pogačar and Van der Poel set to battle out the victory again, albeit this time on the favoured, flatter terrain of the Dutchman.
Tadej Pogačar winning all five Monuments in one season is possible and looks likely
While only three riders have ever won all five of cycling’s Monuments, Eddy Merckx, Roger De Vlaeminck and Rik Van Looy, no one has ever conquered all of them in one season. That is not only possible for Tadej Pogačar, but it also looks likely. However, Paris-Roubaix does represent his toughest challenge.
For years, it was Milan-San Remo which he and UAE Team Emirates-XRG hadn’t quite figured out, but after he finally won it last month – in a thrilling fashion the team never would have drawn up – it’s just the pavé of northern France which stands in his way of joining those three icons of yesteryear above.
And he could go that one step further, as stated. A win next Sunday would maintain his perfect record and bring him the third of the five 2026 Monuments, with only Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia left to complete an unheard of Grand Slam this year, two races which are so difficult in terms of climbing that anything but a dominant fourth and sixth victory at each race, respectively, would be a huge surprise.
Of course, his power over the cobbled climbs of the Flemish Ardennes translates to the jagged pavé across the border, but he does lose his biggest advantage: the uphill gradients. So it may have to be an all-out battle of attrition and endurance that he and UAE create if he is to deny Mathieu van der Poel a fourth Cobblestone trophy in a row and make more history. (JM)
Remco Evenepoel won’t be there this year, but he wants to race in the future
No sooner was Remco Evenepoel‘s cobbled Classic debut over than he was already thinking about the next, and not just in the form of a return to Flanders. The Belgian has spoken about wanting to ride Paris-Roubaix a few times already, but seemed even more sure on Sunday that he would do it one day. In some interviews, he was simply leaving the door open, but in the mixed zone to the written press, he was more direct: “We still have a lot of time to discuss that, but for sure one day I will be there.”
Though he might look like a small climber, we all know Evenepoel is one of the most powerful riders in the world on the flat, and there’s no reason why his TT strength couldn’t also reward him in Roubaix.
In theory, he’s lacking the skills and experience involved for the Roubaix pavé, and usually the hectic race would be considered a massive risk for GC riders, but Tadej Pogačar basically threw all of those notions in the bin with his debut last year, so why shouldn’t Evenepoel follow? (MP)
Lotte Kopecky will be more motivated than ever
By her own admission, Lotte Kopecky didn’t have a bad day in Flanders, but it still wasn’t enough to defend her title; indeed, she missed the podium altogether. Faced with the climbing strength of Demi Vollering, the Belgian wasn’t particularly disappointed in her day, but it will have added more fuel to the fire for Roubaix. She’s said already that winning Milan-San Remo relieved a lot of pressure for the Spring, but that’s not to say she won’t want to win the Hell of the North.
Despite being fourth on the day, there’s nothing to suggest Kopecky is missing any of the power you need on the flat to win Roubaix, and her results so far this year show she’s very much back to her Classics-winning best. Lorena Wiebes, who also seems to be flying, will be a valuable help next Sunday – she crashed out of contention in Flanders – and with riders like Blanka Vas, Femke Gerritse and Marta Lach around her too, Kopecky will have one of the strongest teams next week. Plus, she’ll be very mentally motivated to try and add a second Roubaix to her palmarès after missing out on a fourth Flanders. (MP)
Individual strength is important, but it’s still a numbers game
Men’s and women’s cycling are almost on converging trajectories when it comes to tactics and dynamics. In women’s races, it used to feel like it was often rider against rider, with the very top names going head-to-head based on strength, with the help of domestiques, more minor. In men’s, the teams always felt more important, but now the biggest races are very mano a mano between the favourites.
Both of Sunday’s races were a reminder that team strength is perhaps the biggest asset any rider can have is committed teammates. FDJ smashed the race with a horribly fast pace in the women’s race, which obviously made Vollering’s attack more successful, whilst even the ‘Big 5’ battle in the men’s was set up by a whole day of work from UAE, particularly Florian Vermeersch on the Molenberg.
In Roubaix, having bodyguards who can keep you up front, keep the pace how you like it, and just help shepherd you through the chaos can be the difference between making the decisive move and crashing out. The finales will be decided by the rest riders, but keep an eye on what teams are bossing it earlier on – their leader will probably do pretty well. (MP)
Paris-Roubaix parcours returns the balance in Mathieu van der Poel’s favour
Mathieu van der Poel may have been second best to Tadej Pogačar at the Tour of Flanders, but that doesn’t make Paris-Roubaix a given for the Slovenian, far from it, with the lack of similar climbs, in difficulty and frequency, and the flatter pavé playing more into the hands of the three-time winner.
On his debut last year, Pogačar was able to push Van der Poel close to his limit, but a mistake when he overshot a corner ultimately cost him the race. The Dutchman has won the last three editions for several reasons, one of them being luck, yes, but you often make your own in this sport, and his expert bike handling, superior legs and positioning are what have bailed him out of trouble.
Matching Pogačar up the Oude Kwaremont proved a step too far for the Alpecin-Premier Tech rider, but over the five-star Trouée d’Arenberg and Carrefour de l’Arbre cobbled sectors, it will be advantage Van der Poel once again, and he will be after similar revenge that he got 12 months ago. (JM)
It’s getting harder to imagine a surprise Monument winner, but if any race can deliver, it’s Roubaix
In the run-up to Flanders, me and James were talking quite a bit about who could be considered the last ‘surprise’ Flanders winner (Alberto Bettiol, we reckon), and indeed if it’s even possible for another outside victory in the near future, given the dominance and control we see in this race. It’s a sentiment that extends to the Monuments in general, with the men’s Monuments dominated by the same riders for a few years now, whilst the last women’s surprise victor was perhaps Alison Jackson in Roubaix 2023.
It is increasingly hard to imagine how a surprise might materialise in these big races this year, with the same strong riders and teams asserting themselves in both the men’s and women’s pelotons, but if there’s any race that is prime for a wild result, it is Roubaix.
As much as teams try – and succeed – Roubaix is inherently much, much harder to control than any of the other Monuments, and the elements of luck and chaos lend themselves more to unpredictable situations. With the way the spring has been raced so far, it does seem unlikely that anyone other than a favourite will win either race on Sunday, but let’s at least dream. (MP)
Mads Pedersen and Wout van Aert can’t be counted out for next Sunday
While a ‘big five’ formed momentarily on the road from Antwerp to Oudenaarde on Sunday, with Pogačar’s initial acceleration on the second Kwaremont drawing Wout van Aert, Mads Pedersen, Mathieu van der Poel and Remco Evenepoel into his wheel, predictions from the other superstars that it might in reality become a ‘big one’ came true.
The Slovenian was too strong on the climbs again and made even the top names in the sport struggle behind to finish way back, 2:04 in Van Aert’s case and 2:48 in Pedersen’s, with only Van der Poel finishing within a minute of the imperious World Champion.
But as is the case for Van der Poel regaining status as the favourite, the flatter pavé of Paris-Roubaix also returns Van Aert, but especially Pedersen, to his favoured terrain. An ill-timed puncture dropped the Dane out of the front group in last season’s race, so it’s unknown how he would have fared, but a second podium in succession suggests he wouldn’t have been far off the two world-beaters at all.
For Van Aert, the 2026 Classics season has also seen him look more like himself again, and with third at Milan-San Remo and a valiant fourth-place ride at the Tour of Flanders to his name already, perhaps he can be paid off with the legs and luck he’s long missed at the races he wants to win most. (JM)
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