Women’s Paris-Roubaix race (with more cobbles) finishes after the men, adds wildcards and changes name

Those who manage to secure tickets for the Velodrome during Paris-Roubaix 2026 will get their money’s worth. No fewer than four races will finish on Sunday, April 12, in the Northern French cycling stadium. The juniors, under-23s, men, and women will all ride the Hell of the North on that day. Officially, the race is now called Paris-Roubaix Hauts-de-France.

You’ve already read which men’s teams received wildcards, and at the same time, the ASO also announced which teams will compete in the women’s race. Besides the fourteen Women’s WorldTeams, the ProTeams Cofidis, Laboral Kutxa Fundación Euskadi, Lotto-Intermarché Ladies, Ma Petite Entreprise, Mayenne Monbana My Pie, St. Michel-Preference Homes-Auber93, and VolkerWessels also received invitations to Paris-Roubaix Femmes.

This edition of the race has undergone some changes, explains route designer Thierry Gouvenou. There will be three additional cobbled sectors, adding 4.5 more kilometers of cobbles than the last edition won by Pauline Ferrand-Prévot. "We removed the laps around Denain so that we could shift the peloton slightly south and add more cobblestone sections. Haveluy is one of the sectors that can now be decisive."

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The final seventeen cobbled sectors – including Mons-en-Pévèle and Carrefour de l'Arbre, but once again without the Forest of Wallers – are identical for the women and men. However, the ASO has made what it calls a ‘major decision.’ The women’s race will finish after the men’s race. This means, according to the organizer, that the women can benefit from a prime time television slot. The finish is scheduled for around 6:20 p.m.

Besides the Hell of the North now officially being called Paris-Roubaix Hauts-de-France, there are more novelties. On Saturday, April 11, the Paris-Roubaix Challenge will take place, where 6,500 amateur riders can also tackle the Hell of the North across three different routes. And just like the men and women, the juniors (105 kilometers from Avesnes, with 17 cobbled sectors) and the under-23s (155 kilometers from Le Cateau-Cambrésis with 23 cobbled sectors) will also race on Sunday. They are the curtain raisers for the men’s race.