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)

 

[Old-school]

I have rated 10, I'm perhaps getting a little too enthusiastic.
The TV production was excellent, amazed that we were able to see almost all the incidents regardless of the rider, whether at the front or at the back of the race.
The actors were great too, and the script was good.

 

[Old-school]

100% subjective. Emotion isn't rational.

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

Now I finally watched from the gun right to the tears.
(got a flu and a cold this night, should've stayed in bed with closed eyes, but cannot help who I am)

And now I voted.
8/10
Spectacular.
9/10 if less static for last 54.2k
10/10 for a tad more suspence and Colbrelli edition weather.

 

[Eagle_Alps]

Nail biter until the last meters.
9/10

 

[search]

a bit off topic, but in a German podcast they came up with a somewhat related question:

If Paris-Roubaix was a PPV event with no other option to watch it, how much would you be willing to pay for it?

 

[Netserk]

a bit off topic, but in a German podcast they came up with a somewhat related question:

If Paris-Roubaix was a PPV event with no other option to watch it, how much would you be willing to pay for it?

if literally no other option ( which there would always be in practise ) then at least €100

 

[Wyndbrook]

a bit off topic, but in a German podcast they came up with a somewhat related question:

If Paris-Roubaix was a PPV event with no other option to watch it, how much would you be willing to pay for it?

Hmm, happy to subscribe to watch, currently Max, but never coughed up for a pay to view event. I would probably keep away from all media until after the event and then go looking for a free stream.

 

[vappa]

a bit off topic, but in a German podcast they came up with a somewhat related question:

If Paris-Roubaix was a PPV event with no other option to watch it, how much would you be willing to pay for it?

Either I'd go to France (I don't live in a neighbouring country) to watch it live or I'd not watch it. And before you point it out, yes I'm very reluctant to spend money even on things I know would bring me joy

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

a bit off topic, but in a German podcast they came up with a somewhat related question:

If Paris-Roubaix was a PPV event with no other option to watch it, how much would you be willing to pay for it?

Depends pretty much whether "you" are us, the die hard cycling fans.
Or "you" are football fans, or Grandma Anna, who hears something in one ear while she walks in front of the television with freshly baked cookies without any sense of the crucial time that is happening.

Because Grandma Anna says that she also enjoys watching cycling races. She just does it in her own way while watching flowTV on her regular cable TV subscription.

But honestly.
Let those speculations fall to the buttom as soon as they arrive.
Precisely because cycling is a people's sport and is for the people.

The other is hardcore crime.

 

[search]

Depends pretty much whether "you" are us, the die hard cycling fans.
Or "you" are football fans, or Grandma Anna, who hears something in one ear while she walks in front of the television with freshly baked cookies without any sense of the crucial time that is happening.

yeah, it's a hardcore-fan type of podcast, and Paris-Roubaix is probably a special case, even among the fans. They were using boxing as an analogy, where you often need to pay for the exact bout you'd like to watch - not a monthly subscription like most football events come with.

For Roubaix, I would probably be willing to pay a significant amount as well, but no idea if enough people would really be interested for a model like this. Hopefully not .

 

[HashRouge]

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

I find this tricky. Roubaix was entertaining for far longer. I think I was glued to the sofa for about four hours! But MSR was more exciting in the final 45 minutes, and had a more exciting finale. I.e. the chasing group was really close to coming back, unexpected WvA attack, and it being genuinely hard to tell who would win the sprint (Pogacar had done more work, plus crashed, and I know Pidcock is very quick for a small rider). Roubaix still had a very exciting finale, but when Pogacar failed to drop WvA on the last few cobble sectors, I was 99% certain that Pogacar wouldn't win. That did take a tiny bit of tension out of the finale for me.