Rate Paris-Roubaix 2026

[red_flanders]

Dry, so a 10 not possible. 2001 was a 10.

Wout wins over a flying Pogi? All the drama? Televised from the gun? Catching a nap from kilometers 200-160?

Gave it a 9.

 

[vappa]

Voted 5. Good race but the amount of mechanicals for top guys totally ruined it for me

 

[vappa]

I rate it an 8.
Had a lot of drama, but some bad-timed mechanicals prevented us from a battle for the ages. I know this is Roubaix, but still having a great race mostly because of mechanicals is a bit pity for me.



Just out of curiosity, had Pogacar won would they impact the race rating? I think it shouldn't as the race is what happens for X kilometres and not who wins it, but.

For me, it would be rated higher if Pogacar had won because of historical significance as opposed to personal significance

 

[tobydawq]

5 reeten.

Should be 8.5 to 9/10. Last 60 km or so were too straightforward to be a legit 10/10

Agreed.

 

[Gigs_98]

If 2021 is my benchmark for what a 10/10 edition should look like I just can't give it a 9. The gap in how much I enjoyed these two races is just too big. It was a very, very good edition though

 

[Cance > TheRest]

8.

Fantastic race between 130 and 30 km to go. There, the race was extremely dynamic and entertaining, but the last 30 kms was a stalemate with Pogi having used up too much energy to succesfully shed Van Aert. The MVDP group behind wasn't gaining anything either, and the eventual two-up sprint felt inevitable. The result in the end was also predictable.

MSR is still the best race of the year so far.

 

[Gratemans]

This edition gets: 6.5/10 and there is nothing and no one that can convince me it should rank any higher. I love WvA but a lot of ratings are largely based on how people feel about WvA winning. In order to be a bit more objective, I developed a scoring system to rate the race. Far from perfect, but here it goes (feel free to rank every edition in the last 30-40 years according to this system, or suggest improvements!):

1. Wet/dry: dry so 0 (wet = 1);
2. Breakaway with riders lasting deep into the finale: No breakaway so 0;
3. Wind: tailwind so 0.5 (sidewind = 1, head wind = 0)
4. Bad luck / mechanics: either an uneventful number or evenly distributed / even adding to the suspense so 1 (if negatively impacting one of the riders more: 0);
5. Attacks / action: 0.5 (no attacks = 0, this race had a few but the situation was quickly locked in)
6. Favorites coming back after mechanicals: 0,5 (most came back in the group they were in but not all)
7. Crazy situations typical for the hell and entertaining for the audience: 1 (Pogs spare bike, MvdP walking)
8. Crashes taking out favorites excl. own mistakes: 1 (crash taking out favorites: 0)
9. Suspense until the end: 1 (long solo with big gap = 0)
10. A worthy winner: 1 (you could say there aren't any unworthy winners, but I beg to differ in some cases, where I would give 0.5 if they make me feel a bit indifferent, like Colbrelli sticking like glue to MvdP's wheel in 2021).

You can only get 10/10 if the roads are wet, a breakaway has riders lasting deep into the finale, there is side wind with some splits here and there, no top riders suffering from race-defining mechanicals / crashes, loads of attacks, some crazy situations, suspense until the end and a worthy winner.

This edition had a lot, but you can't give it 10/10, e.g. 2016 (8.5/10) and 2021 (8.0/10) come closer.

This edition could have risen to a potential max. of 8.5/10 if e.g. there was a breakaway (+1), some more fireworks in the front group (+0.5) and if MvdP made it back to the front of the race (+0.5), and that would have been the maximum, given that the wind and weather is not controllable. So all in all a 6.5 is a pretty good score. I'm sure some editions (long solos mainly) will get a 4 or 5/10 according to this system.

Thanks for explaining why we're voting wrong, but I'll stick with my 8 thank you very much.
And I'm not a fan of Van Aert either.
(Nor do I have anything against him)