Paris-Roubaix 2026, one day monument, April 12

[Flamin]

Did you need Pogacar to get visibly frustrated or yell at Vermeersch? I dno, he played his role on Molenberg (which he personally benefitted a lot from as well), but nothing really besides from that. Many riders have done that in the past, but this is Flanders and had Pogacar been 2% worse, it could definitely had mattered. His role was only to keep the group going and doing a leadout - very simple. He did neither, and actually actively worked against it trying to go up the road.

Everybody knows all Pog need is a complete group going into 2nd Kwaremont with as much energy as possible, but Florian was riding selfishly.

No, but there was plenty of time for Pogacar to drop back in the group and have a talk with Vermeersch if he wanted to. I didn't see that happen once, which to me tells he was fine with it. Perhaps the goal was to keep Vermeersch relatively fresh between Molenberg and 2nd Kwaremont in case something out of the ordinary happened, thus saving him to do some real dirty work if necessary. Like when Pog would have a puncture, or if any dangerous attack would go. Surely Vermeersch would have been called for duty in those cases.

 

[E_F_]

Can't wait to watch MvdP and Pogi take turns for two hours like they're doing Trofeo Baracchi until one of them crashes.

 

[canina82]

Rain on Saturday. We will have a wet course. An epic PR is expected.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Rain on Saturday. We will have a wet course. An epic PR is expected.

I think it would need a very large amount of rain on Saturday for it to meaningfully affect the race more than a few crashes on the mudspots early on. At least that‘s been the case historically. We won‘t get much sun on Sunday which might keep it more damp but I don‘t expect the conditions to be epic.

 

[Didinho]

Dillier from the break. You heard it here first.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Dillier from the break. You heard it here first.

Just like 2018, a Slovak will beat him in the Velodrome. Lukáš Kubiš will take the cobblestone home.

 

[Sciatic]

I think it would need a very large amount of rain on Saturday for it to meaningfully affect the race more than a few crashes on the mudspots early on. At least that‘s been the case historically. We won‘t get much sun on Sunday which might keep it more damp but I don‘t expect the conditions to be epic.

I’m not one to do rain dances for races, since the rain often obscures visibility for us watching at home. But I have wanted enough rain before Roubaix but I’d like to see the dirt paths off to the side of the cobbles more difficult to ride

 

[jono]

When does the full startlist get announced?

 

[Potomac]

Yes! The return of one day monuments are back!

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Yes! The return of one day monuments are back!

Oh man, how terrible those 3-week monuments were!

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Top favorite Florian Vermeersch will have a solid team around him.

Pogi should be a monster dom, that I can tell you. Vermeersch's only job is not to get dropped by Pogi and he wins.

 

[No Excuses]

Pog needs to go very early. This race has to be as hard as possible.

 

[Boes]

Wet cobbles mean not all favourites gonna survive until the final.
Let's hope they do and let's hope Poggy and MVP are having a human day so it'll actually be a close race with a handfull of contenders.

 

[Netserk]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2042149189736403352

View: https://x.com/laflammerouge16/status/2042149189736403352

 

[Gratemans]

It's my favourite monument hands down. I don't really know why.
But GCN (whatever else you may think of them) had this great quote in their preview:
"Brutal doesn't really do it justice. Uneven cobbles the size of bread loaves. Dust, mud, crashes: If this race didn't already exist and someone proposed it, there's now way it would get off the ground."

Hell no it wouldn't! But I sure am glad some local crazy person saw the light in 1896 (!) and thought this was a good idea anyway.

It's a combination of power, technical skill, and just being able to keep cool under the most insane circumstances that determines the winner. Man I'm stoked!

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

Oh man, how terrible those 3-week monuments were!

I think it's about the thread title.

 

[Pantani_lives]

Van der Poel
Pogacar
Van Aert, Pedersen
Ganna, Philipsen
F. Vermeersch, Politt, Stuyven, Segaert, Mohoric, Laporte

MvdP has won the previous three editions, so he remains the favorite. He has the shape, the technique and the sprint. For Pogacar this is "the really hard one". His team will make the race hard by breaking up the bunch early, even before Wallers-Arenberg. This classic is more open and less predictable than others, because mechanicals and crashes can play a role.

It would be nice if Van Aert or Pedersen could finally take a big one after all those second, third and fourth places. They'll need to race in front all the time and avoid ending up in a long chase.

Ganna can ride fast on the flat, but he's never finished higher than sixth. Philipsen is Alpecin's second card, but he'll have a hard time if the race breaks open early. Outsiders should try to join an early break, because that might be their best chance to still be around in the final.

 

[Alien Performance]

Van der Poel
Pogacar
Van Aert, Pedersen
Ganna, Philipsen
F. Vermeersch, Politt, Stuyven, Segaert, Mohoric, Laporte

MvdP has won the previous three editions, so he remains the favorite. He has the shape, the technique and the sprint. For Pogacar this is "the really hard one". His team will make the race hard by breaking up the bunch early, even before Wallers-Arenberg. This classic is more open and less predictable than others, because mechanicals and crashes can play a role.

It would be nice if Van Aert or Pedersen could finally take a big one after all those second, third and fourth places. They'll need to race in front all the time and avoid ending up in a long chase.

Ganna can ride fast on the flat, but he's never finished higher than sixth. Philipsen is Alpecin's second card, but he'll have a hard time if the race breaks open early. Outsiders should try to join an early break, because that might be their best chance to still be around in the final.

All sounds right to me but I think the gap from MVDP is way smaller than the gap from Pog to everyone else, barring they both have really bad luck I reckon there's a 90% chance one of the two of them win