Ganna: "Paris-Roubaix Is Like Being in a Washing Machine" — Italian Giant Completes Final Cobbled Recon
Filippo Ganna has never been a man for understatement, and his description of Paris-Roubaix ahead of Sunday's Monument did not disappoint. "Paris-Roubaix is like being in a washing machine," the Italian said after completing his final cobblestone reconnaissance ride in northern France this week. "It isn't cycling — it's a different sport." Coming from a man who has won world time trial championships and powered through some of the most demanding days in Grand Tour history, the admission carried genuine weight. If Ganna respects the cobbles this much, it is because he understands exactly what they demand.
The Lidl-Trek powerhouse has made Paris-Roubaix one of the centrepieces of his 2026 season, committing to what the team internally calls "Operation Paris-Roubaix" — a structured campaign of cobblestone preparation that has spanned months of targeted training, equipment testing and route reconnaissance. His final recon this week covered the decisive sectors from Mons-en-Pévèle through Camphin-en-Pévèle to the Carrefour de l'Arbre, the stretch of northern French farmland where Paris-Roubaix is invariably won or lost. Team sources confirmed that Ganna completed multiple passes of the key sectors, testing different tyre pressures and body positions at race intensity.
Ganna's candidacy for Paris-Roubaix has been building quietly but persistently. The 29-year-old won the under-23 edition of Paris-Roubaix back in 2016, announcing himself as a rider with genuine cobblestone pedigree long before his time trial dominance became the defining feature of his career. In the professional race, results have been more elusive — he has acknowledged openly that he has "never even touched it as a pro" in terms of podium contention. "I never found the right moment, often arriving a little out of shape," Ganna told La Gazzetta dello Sport earlier this spring. "I have to try whenever I can. Who knows, maybe in 2026 the story will change."
His spring form suggests the story genuinely could change. Ganna's victory at Dwars door Vlaanderen last week was a performance of extraordinary power and timing — he caught and passed Wout van Aert in the closing metres of a race that the Belgian had animated from distance, delivering a sprint that demonstrated both raw wattage and the tactical awareness needed to time an effort perfectly on a cobbled course. That result confirmed what many in the peloton had already suspected: Ganna is arriving at Paris-Roubaix in the best classics form of his career.
The tactical challenge for Ganna on Sunday is significant. While Pogačar and Van der Poel will attract the majority of tactical attention — the Slovenian chasing a historic Monument sweep, the Dutchman defending a three-peat — Ganna occupies the dangerous role of the rider who might benefit from their mutual marking. If the two favourites neutralise each other through the Arenberg trench and the sectors that follow, Ganna has the sustained power to ride away from a reduced group in the final 30 kilometres. His time trial engine, capable of holding enormous wattage for extended periods on flat terrain, is uniquely suited to the long, grinding cobblestone sectors that characterise the race's decisive final hour.
Lidl-Trek's team strategy reflects this ambition. The squad have assembled a formidable cobblestone support group around Ganna, with Mads Pedersen — himself a genuine Roubaix contender after his stunning second place at Tour of Flanders — providing both protection and an alternative tactical option. The presence of two credible leaders gives the team flexibility: if Ganna punctures or crashes in the chaos of the early sectors, Pedersen can assume leadership. If both arrive at the business end of the race together, they can take turns attacking.
"In recent seasons, several second places have arrived. Too many. They must be transformed into first places," Ganna said of his broader 2026 ambitions. Paris-Roubaix represents the most emotionally resonant opportunity to do precisely that. A victory in the Roubaix velodrome would confirm the Italian as something more than a time trial specialist who dabbles in the classics — it would establish him as a Monument winner, a different category of rider entirely. The washing machine is warming up. Ganna intends to survive it.