Set to be run the same day as the men, the new course drops the opening circuits in Denain and adds 4.5 kilometres of cobbles. It will be the most challenging edition yet.
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When the UCI released the WorldTour race calendar for 2026, the sport’s governing body quietly slipped in that Paris-Roubaix Femmes, previously on the Saturday before the men’s event, would instead take place the same day as the men’s race on Sunday. On Thursday, the event organisers, ASO, announced a race route that addresses the logistical requirements of that choice, dropping the previous opening circuits in Denain and adding three sectors of cobbles, for 33.7 km of pavé over 20 sectors, and a total distance of 148.5 km. One of the new sectors is the four-star Haveluy à Wallers, which is just the third sector riders will encounter and could be a decisive early point in the race.
The new course might be the hardest Paris-Roubaix Femmes yet, but the change of date doesn’t do the women any favours. For one, with the race starting only 90 minutes after the men’s, the weather will have an even bigger impact on the women’s race than before. Additionally, the women will have to share the spotlight with the men, when they previously had a day all for themselves.
“Holding the women’s race on Sunday ensures better TV visibility, with viewers benefiting from two finishes on the same day, just a few hours apart,” Mélanie Vallage, head of media and press relations for ASO, told Escape Collective. “This setup has already been implemented in other cycling races, such as Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Gent-Wevelgem.”
In addition to the new date, Zwift quietly parted ways with the race for the 2026 edition. The virtual cycling platform signed on as a naming sponsor with ASO from the first edition back in 2021 and has had a major hand in making this race, as well as the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, a reality and a success.
The course changes
Just as it has since 2021, Paris-Roubaix Femmes will start in Denain. However, this year, the women will forego the opening circuits that shook out the riders’ legs in previous editions. Instead, the race will head south to the first new stretch of cobbles.
“We have removed the loops around Denain to take the peloton a little further south and add more cobbles, and Haveluy is one of the sectors that could prove decisive,” said ASO technical director Thierry Gouvenou.
It’s a change Christian Kos, sports director for SD Worx-Protime, welcomes.
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