Paris-Roubaix 2026

The road

At the start

The Monument that completes the set

Compiègne, 258 kilometres and thirty sectors of pavé to the velodrome. Tadej Pogačar was second here on debut and needs only this race to hold all five Monuments. Mathieu van der Poel has soloed into Roubaix three years running; a fourth would match Boonen and De Vlaeminck. Wout van Aert has been fourth, third and second here and, at 31, owns no cobbled Monument. Mads Pedersen and Jasper Stuyven wait behind them.

How it was won

1. 196 km to go

   Trouée d'Arenberg

   Van Aert leads the charge into the forest trench and disaster strikes Van der Poel — a puncture, a bike change off Philipsen, a wheel swap from Del Grosso — and the defending threat is spat out the back on the day's pivotal sector.

2. 270 km to go

   Double puncture

   The lead group of seven looks set until Pogačar flats after sector 16 and Van Aert suffers the same fate moments later. Pedersen drives the pace, but both favourites claw their way back on — the race refuses to settle.

3. 353 km to go

   Van Aert forces the split

   On sector 12 Van Aert throws the first real punch. Pogačar trades blow for blow and the two ride clear together as Pedersen loses the wheel.

4. 448 km to go

   Mons-en-Pévèle

   Pogačar attacks on the five-star Mons-en-Pévèle, but Van Aert is immovable, matching him stone for stone. An uneasy, perfectly balanced truce carries the two toward Roubaix.

5. 517 km to go

   Carrefour de l'Arbre

   The heroes' sector, portraits of past champions lining the pavé, and still nothing separates them. Van Aert leads it through and lets Pogačar drift level as they hit the tarmac with the velodrome looming.

6. 6At the line

   The velodrome — a first Monument

   Van Aert plays it perfectly, forcing Pogačar to lead into the boards and opening his sprint with half a lap left. His power is simply too much: Wout van Aert wins Paris-Roubaix at last, his first cobbled Monument.

The result