After dismantling the field at the Tour of Flanders with a devastating solo attack on the Oude Kwaremont, Tadej Pogačar arrives at Paris-Roubaix on April 12 with a chance to achieve something only three riders in the history of cycling have done: win all five Monument classics. The Slovenian’s dominant third Ronde victory — dropping Mathieu van der Poel with 18 kilometers remaining — has made him the overwhelming favorite for the Queen of the Classics.
What’s at Stake
Pogačar, 27, now holds 12 Monument victories, placing him second on the all-time list behind only Eddy Merckx’s 19. He has won Milan–San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, and Il Lombardia. Paris-Roubaix is the only Monument missing from his collection. If he wins next Sunday, he joins Merckx, Rik Van Looy, and Roger De Vlaeminck as the only riders to have conquered all five — a feat last accomplished by De Vlaeminck in the 1970s.
The four-time Tour de France winner has shown this spring that his cobblestone credentials are beyond question. His Flanders performance was a masterclass in controlled aggression — sitting patiently through the early chaos before unleashing an attack that no one could follow.
The Cobblestone Challenge
Paris-Roubaix is a fundamentally different race from Flanders. While the Ronde is decided on steep, punchy climbs, Roubaix is won on 55 kilometers of brutal pavé sectors spread across 257 kilometers of racing. The infamous Trouée d’Arenberg — a 2.4-kilometer trench of medieval cobblestones — arrives at the midpoint of the race and regularly causes carnage, splitting the peloton into fragments and ending the hopes of pre-race favorites with punctures and crashes.
The Carrefour de l’Arbre sector, arriving with 16 kilometers to go, is where the decisive moves are typically made. It’s a narrower, more technical section that rewards bike-handling skills and raw power in equal measure — qualities Pogačar possesses in abundance but hasn’t yet proven on Roubaix’s most demanding pavé.
Equipment choice matters enormously. Riders swap to wider tires — typically 30mm to 32mm — and lower pressures to absorb the cobblestone impacts. Team cars carry spare wheels and even spare bikes, because mechanical failures on the pavé are inevitable. The geometry considerations familiar to gravel riders apply here too: compliance, tire clearance, and stability at speed over rough surfaces are non-negotiable.
Who Can Beat Him?
Mathieu van der Poel is the three-time defending champion and the most natural cobblestone rider of his generation. The Dutchman has made the Roubaix velodrome his personal arena, winning in 2023, 2024, and 2025. While he was clearly second-best at Flanders, Paris-Roubaix suits his explosive power and technical mastery of the pavé. If anyone can deny Pogačar, it’s Van der Poel — and he’ll be highly motivated after watching Pogačar ride away from him on the Kwaremont.
Wout van Aert finished fourth at Flanders and remains a dangerous outsider at Roubaix, where his combination of time trial power and bike-handling skills gives him a strong tactical hand. Filippo Ganna, fresh from his dramatic Dwars door Vlaanderen victory over Van Aert, brings pure wattage that could prove decisive if the race comes down to a long-range power move on the pavé.
Remco Evenepoel’s impressive Flanders debut — third place on his first attempt — raises the question of whether he’ll ride Roubaix. The Belgian has historically avoided the cobblestone classics, but his spring form and growing confidence in one-day racing make him a potential wildcard if he starts.
What This Means for Cycling Fans
Paris-Roubaix 2026 has the ingredients for one of the greatest editions in the race’s 130-year history. The narrative is irresistible: Pogačar chasing history, Van der Poel defending his kingdom, and the lingering question of whether pure talent can overcome the unique brutality of the Hell of the North. For fans, this is appointment viewing — the kind of once-in-a-generation storyline that the spring classics exist to produce.
The women’s Paris-Roubaix, which has rapidly grown into one of the season’s most compelling races, will also be worth watching closely. After Demi Vollering’s dominant Flanders solo, she’ll arrive as the form rider — though the cobblestones demand a different set of skills that could shuffle the deck entirely.
Key Takeaways
Tadej Pogačar’s third Tour of Flanders victory sets up a historic showdown at Paris-Roubaix on April 12. Victory would make him just the fourth rider to win all five Monuments, joining Eddy Merckx, Rik Van Looy, and Roger De Vlaeminck. Three-time defending champion Mathieu van der Poel stands as the primary obstacle, with Wout van Aert and Filippo Ganna capable of disrupting the expected duel. The cobblestones of Roubaix represent the last frontier for cycling’s most dominant rider.
