Women's Paris-Roubaix Moves to Same Day as Men's Race — A Milestone for Women's Cycling
When the Paris-Roubaix Femmes riders cross the velodrome finish line in Roubaix on April 12, they will do so in front of the same crowd and under the same television spotlight that followed the men's race earlier in the afternoon. For the first time since the women's race was created in 2021, both editions of Hell of the North will take place on the same Sunday — a change that race organisers ASO have described as a significant step forward for the visibility of women's professional cycling.
Race director Thierry Gouvenou explained the thinking behind the decision: organising the security operation for a race that crosses five departments, requires road closures across the Lille metropolitan area, and involves hundreds of gendarmes, is substantially easier and less expensive when it is done once rather than twice over consecutive days. The women's race had previously taken place on Saturday — the day before the men's — but keeping roads closed across two full days created mounting pressure from local authorities and communities, and the financial and logistical arguments for a unified race weekend became impossible to ignore.
The new format follows the model already established at the Tour of Flanders, where the men's and women's editions have shared their race day for several years. Under the new schedule, the men's race begins at its traditional time, with the women's start timed so that the Pauline Ferrand-Prévot-led field reaches the Roubaix velodrome at approximately 6:20pm — a prime-time television slot that gives the women's race the kind of broadcast exposure that racing in isolation on a Saturday could never command. Critically, it is the women who will have the honour of closing the day at the velodrome, a symbolic gesture that has been widely welcomed within the professional peloton.
The 2026 edition of Paris-Roubaix Femmes is also the most demanding in the race's young history. The route covers 148.5 kilometres from Denain, incorporating 33.7 kilometres of cobbled sectors — up from 29.2km in 2025 — including the introduction of the fearsome four-star Haveluy sector at kilometre 52.4. The women's route rejoins the men's course for the final 17 sectors, meaning the decisive pavé is identical for both races. There will be no hiding place for anyone who cannot handle the cobbles.
Defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot arrives carrying the extraordinary confidence of a rider who won both Paris-Roubaix and the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in 2025. The French champion has spoken openly about her desire to defend the title she considers the most special of her career, and she returns to the pavé with the advantage of knowing exactly what it takes to win there. Her Canyon-SRAM team will build the race around her.
Lotte Kopecky is the most obvious threat to a Ferrand-Prévot defence. Fresh from winning a record fourth Tour of Flanders, the SD Worx-Protime Belgian has spent the entire spring in ruthless form, and her ability to handle the cobbles is beyond question. Demi Vollering and Lorena Wiebes — the latter a dominant four-time Scheldeprijs champion — complete a SD Worx-Protime lineup capable of racing in multiple ways. Add Elisa Longo Borghini and Marianne Vos — when healthy — and the women's Roubaix field has a depth that the event's organisers could only have dreamed of when the inaugural edition took place five years ago.
For those at the roadside, the scheduling change means the experience of a Paris-Roubaix race day is fundamentally different. The atmosphere at the Roubaix velodrome has always been electric, but the chance to watch two elite fields compete across the same cobbles on the same afternoon — with the women closing the show in the fading April light — elevates the occasion into something genuinely unique in the sporting calendar. That women's cycling has earned the right to close a day like this is a measure of how much the sport has grown since 2021. On April 12, Hell of the North will belong to the women.