The biggest day of Classics racing of the season is upon us as the men’s and women’s pelotons head to northern France to tackle Paris-Roubaix and Paris-Roubaix Femmes.
The men’s race earlier in the afternoon is headlined by a two-man battle as Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar top the favourites list, though the sixth edition of the women’s race looks to be a more open affair.
Twenty one teams and 126 riders are set to do battle over 20 cobbled sectors, including the Carrefour de l’Arbre and the Mons-en-Pévèle, on Sunday afternoon, with the sectors totalling 33.7km of the challenging Paris-Roubaix Femmes route.
Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime)
Three-time Tour of Flanders winner Lotte Kopecky couldn’t add to her record haul on Sunday, instead racing to fourth behind Demi Vollering, but she still looks to be the outstanding favourite for victory in Roubaix.
The Belgian star heads up an SD Worx-Protime line-up which also features another top favourite – more on her later – and she knows what it takes to win on the cobbles of Northern France.
Kopecky won the race in the rainbow stripes of world champion two years ago, triumphing in the Vélodrome André-Pétrieux in a sprint of six riders. Her other results include second in 2022, seventh in 2023, and two other top-15 rides.
This season she has two wins to her name, Nokere Koerse and, of course, Milan-San Remo. In form and able to win races alone and in a sprint, Kopecky could well be in line for win number two this weekend.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike)
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot broke a pair of decades-old ducks for France last year, with her wins at Paris-Roubaix and the Tour de France Femmes going down in history. With her mission accomplished on the cobbles, she wasn’t originally set to return to the race this Sunday.
However, the defending champion will in fact be back despite saying in January that she’d head to altitude this week between her main goals of the spring – the Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Visma will line up with both her and Marianne Vos, with the Frenchwoman coming off a strong ride in Flanders, whilst Vos may need a bit of extra support after missing some races due to the death of her father.
Home fans can dream once again, with Ferrand-Prévot once again looking in strong form heading into the race. For the second year in a row, she finished second at Flanders, though last Sunday’s winner, Demi Vollering, won’t stand in her way this weekend.
Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek)
Following wins at the World Championships, Gent-Wevelgem, and the Trofeo Alfredo Binda (three times), sprinter Elisa Balsamo is one of the most accomplished racers still searching for her first Monument victory. Paris-Roubaix is where she’s come closest to date, having finished second at the 2024 race.
Two years ago, she lost out to Kopecky in the velodrome sprint, having matched every move at vital points late in the race. Last year, she rounded out another stellar spring – her Classics campaign featuring two big wins and three, with a ninth place, 1:21 off the win.
Balsamo hasn’t won yet in 2026, though podiums at the recent Ronde van Brugge and Scheldeprijs suggest she’s in solid form once more. The experience of the now-retired Lizzie Deignan and Ellen van Dijk will be missed at Lidl-Trek on Sunday, though they will put up a strong team regardless.
Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime)
As if having Lotte Kopecky wasn’t enough, SD Worx-Protime can also rely on the fastest sprinter in the world on Sunday, with Lorena Wiebes providing a more than ample second option for the Dutch squad.
The pair’s one-two punch is matched in strength perhaps only by Visma-Lease a Bike’s equally versatile pairing of Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Marianne Vos, who raced to first and fourth last year. That race also marked Wiebes’ best performance yet at Roubaix as she beat Vos in the sprint for third place.
With her Classics campaign almost at an end, Wiebes has five wins and lies third in the UCI world ranking, and yet her spring hasn’t quite matched up to last year’s, barring her In Flanders Fields victory. There’s been nothing to suggest that she can’t match, or even better, her 2025 Roubaix result this weekend, though.
Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ)
Italian champion Elisa Longo Borghini is another former winner set to line up in Denain on Sunday. The 34-year-old has won almost everything there is to win in terms of the spring Classics, but she hasn’t quite challenged for victory at a top-level race in recent weeks, with a bout of flu disrupting her in recent weeks.
A win at the 1.1-ranked Trofeo Oro in Euro followed her fourth place at Strade Bianche, but since then she’s logged 16th, 22nd, and eighth place finishes at the Trofeo Binda, Dwars door Vlaanderen, and the Tour of Flanders.
Longo Borghini will be hoping to shake off that illness this week. She returns to the race after a two-year break, with her last result being 21st, a year on from her 33km solo triumph. She heads up a strong line-up at her team – head to the honourable mentions for more on her teammates.
Alison Jackson (St Michel-Preference Home-Auber93)
Alison Jackson completes the lineup of former winners at this year’s Paris-Roubaix, with the Canadian champion having won the most memorable edition of the race to date with her victory from the breakaway three years ago.
Back then, she dispatched with five other survivors from the early 18-woman break in a thrilling sprint finish in the Roubaix velodrome. Her post-race dance moves in celebration also hit the headlines, and her underdog triumph was immediately etched in the short history of the race.
Fifth place last year is her best result since then, while this Sunday she’ll line up on a whole new team, trading EF for the lesser-known French squad St Michel during the off-season. At 37, Jackson is entering the final years of her career, but, as we’ve seen time and again in the men’s race, experience and know-how count for a lot at Paris-Roubaix.
Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike)
Marianne Vos returns to racing this weekend following the death of her father last week. The Dutchwoman missed Flanders as a result, but she’ll form a formidable partnership with Pauline Ferrand-Prévot on Sunday.
Vos has a stellar record at this race, even if she hasn’t won yet. COVID-caused DNS in 2022 aside, her Roubaix palmarès reads: second, 10th, fourth, fourth.
For a woman with 258 wins to her name encompassing almost every race in the sport, Paris-Roubaix is one of the few gaps remaining in her palmarès. At 38, time is running out to win the race, but she still lines up as an automatic favourite.
Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto)
Daughter of 2004 men’s race winner Magnus, Zoe Bäckstedt is firmly among the top contenders for success this Sunday, having enjoyed a very strong week on the cobbles of Flanders.
The 21-year-old is one of the form riders in the peloton, having finished fourth at Dwars door Vlaanderen and fifth at the Tour of Flanders, with Bäckstedt saying she had “a few goosebumps” as she raced up the Koppenberg among the leaders on Sunday.
This Sunday, she’ll be tackling far flatter stretches of cobbles and will once again be hoping to race over the famous sectors with the top contenders. In three participations to date, she’s finished 46th, 16th, and 15th. Hopes will be far higher this time around.
Elise Chabbey (FDJ United-SUEZ)
FDJ United-Suez leader and Tour of Flanders champion Demi Vollering has never raced Paris-Roubaix, and she won’t be starting this year, so leadership of the French team is handed over to top lieutenant Elise Chabbey instead.
The Swiss racer, among our tips to break through with a big Classics result this spring, stepped up when Vollering was among several riders who got caught out by a wrong turn at Strade Bianche. She raced on to glory in Siena, scoring the biggest win of her career to date and the second of three major Classics FDJ have won this spring.
Chabbey has form at Roubaix, having finished fourth in 2022 and seventh last year. She’s in form, too, having followed up her Tuscan triumph with fourth at In Flanders Fields. On Sunday, she helped Vollering to victory in Flanders, and now she’ll have a chance to go for it herself once more.
Letizia Borghesi (AG Insurance-Soudal)
The third Italian racer on our list, Letizia Borghesi, raced to a podium finish at last year’s race. The 27-year-old was racing for EF Education-EasyPost then, but the US team will have to look elsewhere this Sunday with Borghesi having switched to AG Insurance-Soudal during the winter.
Last spring, Borghesi was in flying form, finishing sixth at the Tour of Flanders before finishing the best of the rest behind Pauline Ferrand-Prévot with a late solo attack.
She hasn’t shown that same form on the cobbles in the past six weeks, with a DNF at the Tour of Flanders her lead-in result to Roubaix. 11th at Dwars door Vlaanderen has been her strongest outing, while she finished fifth at the hilly Trofeo Alfredo Binda in March.
Borghesi isn’t a top favourite for Sunday, but her outing last time out makes her impossible to ignore.
Cat Ferguson (Movistar)
19-year-old Cat Ferguson races Paris-Roubaix Femmes for the second time this Sunday, her debut last year ending with a crash caused by a spectator stepping onto the course.
Her first taste of the cobbles of Northern France ended unceremoniously, then, but she’s been in good form so far this spring. There have been two wins, both in Spain, coming at the Trofeo Llucmajor and Setmana Volta Valenciana.
On the cobbles, her highlights have been fourth at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and sixth at Dwars door Vlaanderen, both in a chase group behind the race-winning groups.
Roubaix and Amstel Gold Race in a week look to mark the end of the first part of Ferguson’s season, so she’ll hope for better than her most recent result, a “brutal, brutal” outing at the Tour of Flanders, where she finished 6:53 behind race winner Vollering.
Honourable mentions
UAE Team ADQ can look to another potential contender among their rank beyond Elisa Longo Borghini in Irish sprinter Lara Gillespie. She’s enjoying another great spring campaign, with a win at Le Samyn the highlight.
Danish racer Emma Norsgaard lines up as Elisa Balsamo’s lieutenant at Lidl-Trek. She should be there or thereabouts, having raced to sixth and 11th in the past.
Her teammate, 20-year-old Fleur Moors is another name to watch after finishing second at In Flanders Fields.
With a third place at Dwars door Vlaanderen and an 11th at the Tour of Flanders under her belt, Lieke Nooijen is enjoying a breakout spring and could be a secret weapon for Visma-Lease a Bike.
German champion Franziska Koch figures to be FDJ United-SUEZ’s plan A2 on Sunday. This year, she’s raced her best spring to date, including a podium at Strade Bianche, fifth at Omloop, and 10th at the Tour of Flanders.
Pfeiffer Georgi heads up Picnic-PostNL’s selection on Sunday. She has three top 10s to her name at Roubaix, including a third place in 2024.
Sprinter Chiara Consonni (two top 10s in Roubaix) and time trialist Chloé Dygert (eighth last year) join Zoe Bäckstedt as part of a powerful Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto selection.
Fenix-Premier Tech haven’t confirmed their lineup yet, but Scheldeprijs winner Charlotte Kool and Tour of Flanders podium finisher Puck Pieterse could form an intriguing pairing if they head to Roubaix.
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