Defined by extremes and often determined by luck, Paris-Roubaix is notorious for its gruesome parcours and rugged landscape. The sixth edition of the women’s race (this year rebranded to Paris-Roubaix Femmes Hauts-de-France) will start in Denain and run 148km to the famous velodrome in Roubaix, taking in over 33km of pavé – the most in the women's race's history.
The route has been sharpened for 2026: by rerouting slightly east toward the village of Briastre, the first four cobbled sectors now follow one another in quick succession with very little tarmac between them, creating an unprecedented density of cobbles in the early race. Where previous editions allowed the peloton a quiet hour to settle nerves and find rhythm, this year the Hell of the North begins almost immediately. So, a mechanical in the opening kilometres is no longer a misfortune to be absorbed – it is a potential race-ender.
The precedent has been set: there is no let-up, chaos is around every corner. Who will emerge, dust-caked and triumphant, on the boards of the velodrome on Sunday afternoon?
Contenders
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot
In 2025, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) became the first Frenchwoman to win Paris-Roubaix Femmes, attacking with 25 km to go before catching and dropping Emma Norsgaard to ride to a historic solo victory. That debut performance on the cobbles was her first victory on her return to road racing, the next was the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift yellow jersey. Ferrand-Prévot knows how to perform at her country’s biggest events.
Read more: Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and life at the top
Like last year, she goes into the Queen of the Classics on the back of a second-place finish at the Tour of Flanders, where she was only beaten by Demi Vollering, who will not be on the startline in Denain. A 15-time world champion across road, cyclocross, mountain bike and gravel, Ferrand-Prévot processes rough terrain with the instinctive ease and will be backed up by a strong Visma-Lease a Bike squad. Although absent from De Ronde, Marianne Vos remains perhaps the greatest rider the sport has produced, and the Dutchwoman is in contention for a first cobblestone trophy at 38.
Ferrand-Prévot entered the velodrome alone last year en route to winning Paris-Roubaix (Image: Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
Lotte Kopecky
Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) won the 2024 edition of Paris-Roubaix Femmes from a breakaway sprint, taking her cobblestone trophy. She has since added a third Tour of Flanders to her palmarès (in 2025) and a Milan-Sanremo title in March of this year. Despite being unable to match the likes of Vollering and Ferrand-Prévot at Flanders, the Belgian and her SD Worx team remain one of the benchmarks of the Classics. Roubaix is perhaps a race that suits her and her teammate Lorena Wiebes more than the hellingen of her native Belgium. The complexity of leading this race alongside Wiebes is not lost on Kopecky. Paris-Roubaix, with its capacity for sudden, total chaos, asks a lot of a team's internal communication. But if they can arrive at the Carrefour de l'Arbre together, the race could become theirs to lose.
Kopecky couldn't retain her Paris-Roubaix title at last year's race (Image: Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
Lorena Wiebes
Speaking of the Dutch champion, there was a time when naming Lorena Wiebes as a genuine Paris-Roubaix contender would have felt like a category error. Not anymore. What began as a quiet personal vow at the end of last season – to become not just the best sprinter in the world but a Classics rider of the highest order – may not have quite been achieved just yet. However, Roubaix is a different examination to the Flemish Classics. The French cobbles have specific demands – bike handling, positioning, the capacity to absorb kilometres of rattling around without losing power – require qualities beyond raw speed. But last year, she finished third at this race, outsprinting Vos after the field regrouped behind Ferrand-Prévot's winning move. She has not forgotten that. SD Worx-Protime arrive here with Lotte Kopecky alongside her, and the two will need to be on the same page from the off: a lack of coordination between them is the one scenario most likely to hand victory to someone else.
Wiebes finished third at last year's Hell of the North (Image: Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
Zoe Bäckstedt
At 21, Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon//SRAM zondacrypto) is one of the least experienced riders on the startlist for Roubaix, but experience has never been the only currency on the pavé – the cobblestones do not ask for palmarès; it asks for poise, for instinct, for a willingness to lean into chaos and come out the other side still moving forward. So, Bäckstedt arrives not with the weight of expectation but with the quiet momentum of a rider who understands how to suffer and, more importantly, how to keep her cool when the race fractures around her. She arrives at Denain on the back of 4th and 5th place finishes at Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Tour of Flanders, so is clearly in the form of her career.
Read more: Born ready: Zoe Bäckstedt is raring to go ahead of Paris-Roubaix
Bäckstedt made her debut at Paris-Roubaix in 2023 aged 18 (Image: Zac Williams/SWpix.com)
Other Contenders
Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike) lines up in Denain after his Tour of Flanders. A cobblestone trophy is one of the few items she doesn’t have on her mantelpiece.
In the absence of Vollering, Elise Chabbey leads FDJ United-Suez. The Swiss rider has been one of the spring's most consistent performers and arrives with legitimate claims to a place in the finale, as shown by her win at Strade. The French team also have the powerful Franziska Koch in their ranks.
Cat Ferguson (Movistar) will bring her characteristic aggressiveness and may well be the one to animate the race when the key sectors arrive.
UAE Team Emirates-ADQ have some strength in depth behind Longo Borghini, including Lara Gillespie and Karlijn Swinkels.
Getting caught behind a crash or suffering an early mechanical in the new, more densely cobbled opening sectors could cost even the favourites significant time before they reach the decisive racing and in that chaos, names no one has thought to mention will find their opportunity. In its short history the Paris-Roubaix Femmes has already been won by an outsider in Alison Jackson (St Michel - Preference Home-Auber93) in 2023. The Canadian champion will line up again in Denain on Sunday.
Prediction
We think Zoe Bäckstedt will take the biggest win of her career so far on the pavé of Paris-Roubaix.
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