The distance
The two legendary spring classics, the Tour of Flanders (on 5 April 2026) and Paris-Roubaix (12 April 2026), are among the five monuments. One prerequisite: extreme distance - beyond the 250-kilometre mark. The comparison for the 2026 editions:
278.2 to 257.9 kilometres
The Tour of Flanders is therefore a good 20 kilometres longer than Paris-Roubaix. This makes it the second-longest professional race of the season after Milan-San Remo, which covered 298 kilometres this year.
The tradition
The second prerequisite for monument status: a long tradition. Cyclists were already riding the Paris-Roubaix in the 19th century. The premiere took place in 1896. Of the monuments, only Liège-Bastogne-Liège is older. The race through the Ardennes was first run in 1892. The Tour of Flanders was first held in 1913, making Paris-Roubaix 17 years older. The races were paused for several years during the two world wars.
Premiere: 1913 and 1896
Circulation: 110 to 123
The cobblestones
What both races have in common is the cobblestones. However, the surface is different in the races. The "Kasseien" in Belgium are rough, especially on the Oude Kwaremont. No comparison to most of the cobbled sections in German pedestrian zones. But the pavés on the route from the current starting point of Compiègne to Roubaix have a different quality - or rather: this bumpy section is a completely different challenge. It is the toughest road in professional sport - if you want to call the rocky desert a road. Amateur cyclists can experience both qualities on the "cycling marathons" on the professional routes.
Between the first pavé sector near Troisvilles and Roubaix, some of the roughly hewn blocks lie as if thrown together in the fields of northern France; small animals could be hiding in the gaps. The secret recipe is to jump from stone to stone in high gear and at high speed. In Flanders, you need traction because of the steepness of many cobbled sections. In wet weather conditions, the Koppenberg, for example, threatens to become a pedestrian zone.
However, heavy rainfall before or during the Paris-Roubaix race is much more decisive. The course then turns into a kind of mud bath, where the pros' cycling goggles become opaque and the mud sticks to their faces and eyes, impairing their vision. And the ride over the pavé also becomes a much riskier balancing act, where the racers on their bikes with relatively narrow, non-profiled tyres can go off track and quickly crash - also because there are many sharp and tight bends to negotiate on the roughly paved dirt tracks.
Flat northern France against the stitches in the "Flemish Ardennes"
The current course of the Tour of Flanders calls for strong climbers. There are a total of 16 Hellingen (Flemish for climbs or steep sections) to climb - this is the name given to the mostly cobbled steep sections on the edge of the terrain in the centre of Belgium, which is also known as the "Flemish Ardennes". Because the sequence of the climbs has been changed, climbing strength is required in the finale - heavyweights have a harder time recovering from the climbs. "Since the course was changed 14 years ago, the Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg have been the decisive combination, the two final hurdles for those who want to achieve a good result," says Team Soudal Quick-Step, which has had many of the best specialists for this race for years.
Paris-Roubaix is not quite as flat as it looks during the live broadcast. After all, there are around 1300 metres of elevation gain over the entire route. But that is only a little more than half of the climbing work that has to be done on the Flemish stitches. And in fact, there are no significant or even steep climbs on the way to the velodrome in Roubaix.
2250 to 1292 metres altitude
16 to 0 Steep sections
The velodrome in Roubaix with the showers as a unique selling point
The finish of the Tour of Flanders is on an unadorned arterial road into the small town of Oudenaarde. Pretty straight, not much flair. Paris-Roubaix is a completely different story. In the early days of cycling, many road races ended in the then still widespread velodromes. Roubaix now has a unique selling point. The winners are crowned in the Vélodrome André Pétrieux. The almost 500 metre long concrete track with the spectator stands looks out of date, rather unadorned - but nevertheless unique as an atmosphere for a finish. Especially as the racers cross the finish line twice before completing one and a half laps of the oval in front of the fans - clearly visible from the grandstands. The open track, built in 1920, is no longer really used as a training venue. There has long been a modern covered indoor cycling centre with a wooden track that meets modern competition criteria right next door. It is the training centre for the extremely successful French track cyclists.
Winner types: Powerful vs. strong climber
Until just over a decade ago, the contenders for victory in both races were relatively powerfully built riders with a mixture of explosiveness and speed-hardness, as if for a long time trial. Fabian Cancellara and Tom Boonen were regarded as ideal types for these races - they usually duelled twice within a week. The requirements profile has since changed. The new race organiser Flanders Classics has literally given the Tour of Flanders a different profile. For many years, the combination of the very steep wall of Geraardsbergen (Kapelmuur) and the following Bosberg decided the winners and losers on the old route, which led to Ninove-Merbeke. Both steep sections (Hellingen) are no longer part of the course.
Nowadays, the route in the finale is a spectator-friendly circuit on which you can sometimes see the racers in the same place several times. This has led to a change in the course of the race and also to a new ideal type of winning rider. Climbing strength is required due to the dense sequence of climbs. Instead of pure power, the ratio of performance to weight (watts per kilogramme of body weight) has become more decisive. Andreas Klier, who as a professional once finished second in the old version of the "Ronde" and is now a tactical strategist for the EF Education-EasyPost team, once predicted this shift in rider types and then steered the Italian Bettiol to victory himself with a long but early attack on the Oude Kwaremont.
Tadej Pogacar has copied this tactic. The comparatively light Slovenian has virtually turned the Tour of Flanders into a mountain race by letting his team-mates UAE Team Emirates-XRG take him up the Oude Kwaremont, the longest but not steepest climb, at high speed and using his climbing strength to try and outpace heavier classics specialists such as Mathieu van der Poel. In comparison, Paris-Roubaix is a competition for comparatively powerfully built pacemakers such as Mathieu van der Poel, Filippo Ganna or Nils Politt. More weight also means more traction on the cobbles.
The wind
After a relatively long, flat run-up from the start in Antwerp, the Tour of Flanders takes on a winding circuit with many short climbs. The largely treeless Flanders offers the wind a fairly free passage - which often blows from the west from the North Sea. Due to the changing direction of travel, it hits the riders from many different directions - this requires tactical strategists and riders to have a keen sense of when the wind can become an advantage for a manoeuvre. Basically, Paris-Roubaix leads from Compìegne to Roubaix largely in a northerly direction. In the second half of the race, however, the course zigzags over the cobbled sections, which means that the wind can hit the riders from different directions. However, the general rule for Paris-Roubaix is: headwinds paralyse the race, tailwinds accelerate it. A southerly wind is good for breakaways.
The audience
They are similar - after all, the two races are only a week apart in the calendar and the two finish towns of Roubaix and Oudenaarde are only around 40 kilometres apart. Paris-Roubaix attracts an international audience thanks to its reputation as a ride through "the hell of the north" - the race simply has the better-sounding name. Where else can you visit hell? The Tour of Flanders is probably the biggest folk festival of the year in neighbouring Belgium - along the race route.
While you have to fight your way through the undergrowth for the best spots in the Arenberg forest at Paris-Roubaix or better bring wellies for the standing areas in the furrows at the Carrefour de l'Arbre, the race organiser Flanders Classics has made its most important race fit for a VIP audience. At the Oude Kwaremont, there are huge marquees where you can eat and drink all day long and be just a few steps away from the track where the professionals pass three times. As both races take place not far from the Belgian-French border, the local cycling fans, who are usually very fond of beer, are naturally happy to take in both events.
Andreas Kublik
Editor
