Paris-Roubaix

Paris-Roubaix is the cobbled Monument, a one-day bike race held each April across northern France. The route covers roughly 260 kilometers from Compiègne to the Roubaix velodrome, crossing more than 50 kilometers of cobblestones in about 30 sectors.

Paris-Roubaix is the cobbled Monument, a one-day race across northern France from Compiègne to the velodrome in Roubaix. Josef Fischer won the first edition in 1896. It is known as the Hell of the North, and about 55 kilometers of its route are cobblestones.

What is Paris-Roubaix?

Paris-Roubaix is a one-day professional bike race over the cobbled farm roads of northern France, held the week after the Tour of Flanders as the last of the spring’s cobbled classics. It is the third of the season’s five Monuments, the one-day races that have each been run for more than a hundred years: Milano-Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Il Lombardia.

How long is Paris-Roubaix?

Paris-Roubaix is nearly 260 kilometers long, about 160 miles. The route typically has 30 cobbled sectors, which add up to a little over 50 kilometers.

Why Paris-Roubaix is called the Hell of the North

The name dates from April 1919, when the organizers went to look at the route after the First World War and found the roads destroyed. The race had not been held since 1914. Octave Lapize, who had won it in 1909, 1910 and 1911, and François Faber, the winner of 1913, were both killed in the war. Henri Pélissier won when the race returned in 1919.

The cobbled sectors from Troisvilles to the Carrefour de l’Arbre

The 2026 route was 258.3 kilometers long and had 30 cobbled sectors with a total of 54.8 kilometers. The first cobbles came at Troisvilles after 95.8 kilometers. The organizer rates the sectors by difficulty and gives three of them five stars: the Trouée d’Arenberg, Mons-en-Pévèle and the Carrefour de l’Arbre.

The Arenberg is 2.3 kilometers long and came after 163 kilometers. In the month before the 2026 race a herd of goats grazed the grass that grows between its stones. Mons-en-Pévèle, 3 kilometers long, came about 49 kilometers from the finish. The Carrefour de l’Arbre, 2.1 kilometers long, began 17 kilometers from the finish on the track of the André-Pétrieux velodrome.

De Vlaeminck and Boonen: the record of four wins

Roger De Vlaeminck won in 1972, 1974, 1975 and 1977, and Tom Boonen in 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2012. Nobody has won five times. Boonen also won the Tour of Flanders three times.

Three riders have won three years in a row: Lapize from 1909 to 1911, Francesco Moser from 1978 to 1980 and Mathieu van der Poel from 2023 to 2025. No rider has won four in a row.

Museeuw’s muddy third win in 2002

Johan Museeuw had won in 1996 and 2000. The 2002 race, the 100th edition, was run on a cool, windy day with showers and slippery cobbles. Museeuw rode the last 41 kilometers alone, a week after he had finished second to Andrea Tafi in the Tour of Flanders. At the finish he held up ten fingers for his tenth win in a World Cup race. Steffen Wesemann was second, and third was Boonen, 21 years old, in his first Paris-Roubaix as a professional.

Mathew Hayman wins at the fifteenth attempt

Hayman was 37 in 2016 and was starting Paris-Roubaix for the fifteenth time. Six weeks earlier he had broken his right arm in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, and he did most of his training after that indoors on a home trainer. He got into the early breakaway, which grew to 21 riders.

When the favorites caught the break he stayed with them, and he was one of five who went clear on the Camphin-en-Pévèle sector with Boonen, Ian Stannard, Sep Vanmarcke and Edvald Boasson Hagen. Hayman won the sprint on the velodrome from Boonen, who was riding for a fifth victory, with Stannard third. “I won it in the year when I had the least chance of doing well,” he said.

Colbrelli wins in the October mud of 2021

The 2020 race was canceled, and the next edition was held on October 3, 2021, in rain and mud. Gianni Moscon led alone by a minute until he punctured with 30 kilometers to go and then crashed. Sonny Colbrelli, Florian Vermeersch and Van der Poel caught and passed him on the Carrefour de l’Arbre. All three were riding Paris-Roubaix for the first time. Vermeersch, 22, started the sprint, and Colbrelli came past him just before the line and then fell to the ground in tears.

Van der Poel’s three in a row and Van Aert’s sprint in 2026

In 2025 Tadej Pogačar rode Paris-Roubaix for the first time and was alone in front with Van der Poel when he crashed in a bend 38 kilometers from the finish. Van der Poel rode on alone, changed bikes after a puncture on the Carrefour de l’Arbre and won for the third year in a row. Pogačar finished second and Mads Pedersen third.

A year later Van der Poel stopped three times with mechanical problems in the Arenberg and came out of the forest more than two minutes behind. Wout van Aert, who had already had two punctures, went clear with Pogačar on a cobbled sector 53 kilometers from the finish. The two entered the velodrome together, and Van Aert started his sprint with 200 meters to go and won clearly. He had been second in 2022 and third in 2023, and Paris-Roubaix was the one Monument Pogačar had not won. Jasper Stuyven took third, just ahead of Van der Poel.

The average speed of 48.91 kilometers per hour was the highest in the history of the race; the previous record, 47.802, was Van der Poel’s from 2024. “Honestly, there isn’t a more beautiful way to win this race than defeating the world champion to the line,” Van Aert said. At the finish he pointed to the sky for Michael Goolaerts, his teammate, who lost his life in the 2018 race, the first Paris-Roubaix Van Aert rode.

In 2026 Wout van Aert had two punctures and still beat Tadej Pogačar in a sprint on the velodrome, while Mathieu van der Poel lost more than two minutes to mechanical problems in the Arenberg. It was the fastest edition in the race's history, at 48.91 kilometers per hour. Roger De Vlaeminck and Tom Boonen share the record of four wins.