{"id":603635,"date":"2026-04-13T07:27:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T07:27:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/603635\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T07:27:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T07:27:35","slug":"shes-a-monster-who-is-paris-roubaixs-latest-champion-franziska-koch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/603635\/","title":{"rendered":"‘She’s a monster’ \u2013 who is Paris-Roubaix’s latest champion Franziska Koch?"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Franziska Koch won Germany\u2019s junior omnium title in 2017, she wouldn\u2019t have imagined that those same track skills would carry her to an improbable Paris-Roubaix Femmes victory<\/a> almost a decade later.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old outfoxed two of the greatest riders of this generation, Marianne Vos <\/a>and Pauline Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot<\/a>, a Visma-Lease a Bike<\/a> pairing with 29 world titles between them, to bag her biggest career win to date on Sunday.<\/p>\n

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The crowd, huddled around the outdoor velodrome, let out a collective gasp on the bike throw. Koch wasn\u2019t supposed to win, this wasn\u2019t in the script \u2013 how could a rider with only one previous WorldTour scalp beat the world\u2019s best, all by herself?<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis is a victory for a hard-working underdog,\u201d said Stephen Delcourt, Koch\u2019s FDJ United-SUEZ<\/a> manager, who watched with his hands on his head as she roared around the velodrome.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew she was capable of winning, but she still found herself up against the two GOATs of our sport,\u201d Delcourt said. \u201cShe was eager to give it a shot; she was quite vocal on the radio, saying, \u2018I’m not afraid to hurt them. I feel strong.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

So who is Franziska Koch? And why, as unexpected as it may seem, was she destined to win in Roubaix?<\/p>\n

\u201cI come from a cycling family,\u201d Koch said in her winner\u2019s press conference, \u201ceven my grandparents raced their bikes themselves. My parents met at a race as well, so cycling was always a big thing in my family.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Born in the northwest German town of Mettmann, an hour\u2019s drive from the Dutch border, Koch rode her first bike race when she was nine years old.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up really multi-disciplined. I did everything. I did mountain biking, and track in the winter a little bit,\u201d she said, leaving out the fact she was national champion in both as a junior. \u201cI think that helped me have good bike skills, and those are definitely needed here.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Franziska\n<\/p>\n

A 19-year-old Koch wins stage four of the 2019 Boels Ladies Tour. <\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Two years after her junior success, Koch joined Team Sunweb, and in her fifth race with the squad, took a shock stage win at the Boels Ladies Tour, aged 19 \u2013 the second youngest rider in the race.<\/p>\n

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Over the next six years, however, as the team morphed into Team DSM and Picnic PostNL<\/a>, Koch found her chances limited, her role focused on domestique duties. She left the roster at the end of last season, and has since found renewed form at FDJ United-SUEZ \u2013 \u201cI think a happy athlete is a good athlete, and the whole team is working really well together,” she said.<\/p>\n

The evidence is in the results. In the last few months alone, Koch has finished fifth at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad<\/a>, third at Strade Bianche, and tenth at the Tour of Flanders, each time while riding in support of Demi Vollering<\/a>. Her own opportunity, and a big win, seemed only a matter of time.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s such a strong rider,\u201d said Ferrand-Pr\u00e9vot<\/a>, last year\u2019s Paris-Roubaix winner, and this year\u2019s third-place finisher. \u201cTo see what she did in Flanders for Demi<\/a>, she pulled so much at the front in the cobblestones. She\u2019s a monster, she\u2019s really, really strong. I know how strong she was. I was not sure about her sprint, but now I know.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Franziska\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Koch herself acknowledged that she\u2019s not a \u201cpure sprinter \u2013 but I can still have a good punch at the end of a hard race\u201d. It\u2019s a kick that has carried her to two German national road titles, in 2024 and 2025, and now her first Monument.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unbelievable. I was always dreaming of winning this race,\u201d she said. \u201cThe team was really believing in me, that I was in a great shape, and to finish it off today was just amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amazing, too, was the sight of Koch on the podium. As the German national anthem played over the loud speakers, she stood tall and smiled to the crowds, a step higher than the two yellow jerseys \u2013 both with rainbow piping \u2013 flanking her either side. Koch had beaten the world\u2019s best. Now the world knows who she is.<\/p>\n

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\nParis-Roubaix Femmes
\n<\/a>
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\nFDJ United-SUEZ
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