The 123rd edition of Paris-Roubaix, which will start from Compiègne on Sunday, April 12, will be raced over a total distance of 258.3 km (compared to 259.2 km in 2025). The 30 cobbled sectors will measure a total of 54.8 km, but the changes made are certainly very interesting.

The sixth edition of the women's race will also be the first to be held on the same day as the Paris-Roubaix Hauts-de-France. The women's group will start from Denain and will tackle the Haveluy sector for the first time.

During the weekend, five events are planned for cobblestone lovers, which will begin on Saturday with the entry of several thousand amateur cyclists, invited to measure themselves on one of three distances of their choice as part of the Paris-Roubaix Challenge. As an opener for the men's race, juniors will race starting from Avesnes to face 105 km and 17 cobbled sectors, while Under 23 riders will compete over 155 kilometers and 23 cobbled sections between Le Cateau-Cambrésis and Roubaix.

25 teams are invited to participate in the Paris-Roubaix Hauts-de-France, 21 teams for the Paris-Roubaix Femmes Hauts-de-France.

It may seem counterintuitive, but in cycling, kilometers are not all the same! More precisely, they do not carry the same weight in a race scenario. And when talking about Paris-Roubaix Hauts-de-France, it is obviously when the cobblestones come into play that the "perceived distance" tends to fluctuate.

For professionals, this crucial moment will present itself as every year in Troisvilles after one hundred kilometers, but the programming of the first sectors has been modified to return to a scheme already tested in 2024, as Thierry Gouvenou explains: "By slightly deviating towards the east to reach the city of Briastre, we arrive at a situation where the first four sectors follow each other very quickly, with almost no asphalt, which gives an unparalleled impact. Two years ago, Alpecin-Deceunincks had already begun to disperse the group at this stage. And at the end of this sequence, we add sector #26, which has been rarely tackled and offers 800 meters of climb».

All the ingredients are there, therefore, for an early selection that will likely corner the outsiders and, above all, make the race harder for the subsequent cobbled sections.

In the five-star sections, the number of title contenders will quickly decrease. There is always a before and after Arenberg, the Trouée at km 163 (2,300 m). The five-star rating is then applied to the particularly irregular sections of Mons-en-Pévèle (km 209.7 / 3,000 m) and the Carrefour de l'Arbre (km 241.2 / 2,100 m).

WOMEN. The theory of the relativity of kilometers also works for the Paris-Roubaix Femmes Hauts-de-France: the five kilometers less compared to last year are only the nominal value of the route. In detail, the athletes will have to face three additional sectors, or 33.7 kilometers of cobblestones (+4.5 km), with the discovery of the four-star Haveluy sector (km 52.4 / 2,500 m). «We removed the circuit around Denain from the route - Gouvenou continues - to bring the group a bit more south and tackle the Haveluy section, which could prove to be one of the decisive sectors».

This evolution of the women's route, which once again joins the men's route in the last seventeen sectors, is accompanied by another important decision. The athletes will compete for the first time on the same day as the men's race and will also benefit from a privileged program in terms of television audience, with arrival at the velodrome expected around 6:20 PM.