Franziska Koch outsprints Marrianne Vos to win Paris-Roubaix Femmes
CyclingSunday, 12 April 2026 at 18:20
Marianne Vos (Visma | Lease a Bike) lost Paris-Roubaix by the width of a tyre on Sunday. The Dutch rider, who returned to racing after the death of her father Henk, was beaten on the Roubaix Vélodrome by Franziska Koch (FDJ-Suez).
ADVERTISEMENT
A star-studded field assembled in Denain on Sunday afternoon. Lotte Kopecky, Lorena Wiebes, Marianne Vos, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Elisa Balsamo, Charlotte Kool — they were all there.
The opening phase was fairly tame. Only one rider managed to establish a lead: Maria Klöser. The German put in a brave effort, but the peloton caught her on the first real cobbled sector. The women's race does not include the Trouée d'Arenberg, so the first sector was Haveluy.
ADVERTISEMENT
The pace was high on those opening sectors, but no real selection was made. That changed just before Orchies — though not through racing. A heavy crash tore through the peloton. Chloé Dygert (Canyon//SRAM) appeared to be the most serious casualty.
Read on below the tweet!
ADVERTISEMENT
Ferrand-Prévot takes charge
Read on below the video!
With 55 kilometres to go, the riders hit Mons-en-Pévèle — the first of two five-star sectors. Ferrand-Prévot moved to the front after a strong pull from Lieke Nooijen. More importantly, on the new uphill section, she took charge of the race with a strong attack. Vos followed, as did Blanka Vas (SD Worx-Protime) and Franziska Koch from FDJ-Suez.
Defending champion Ferrand-Prévot was clearly sacrificing herself for Vos. She drove the gap out quickly to 35 seconds, while Vas did not seem sure what to do about her team leaders Kopecky and Wiebes being in the chasing group behind. Lidl-Trek and UAE Team ADQ rode on the front of that group, but closing the gap proved impossible. With 25 kilometres to go, it had grown to 1 minute 15 seconds.
ADVERTISEMENT
At precisely that moment, Koch attacked. She put Ferrand-Prévot under pressure and dropped Vas from the group. It was also the perfect scenario for Vos, who no longer needed to do any work at the front thanks to the chasing Frenchwoman.
On the Carrefour de l'Arbre, Vos briefly accelerated. She quickly realised it could cost her the tactical advantage and sat up again, knowing that on the road to Roubaix it would be two against one.
Behind them, Kopecky attacked on the brutal sector with Megan Jastrab and Lucinda Brand. Brand then crashed after a collision with a spectator. A bitter end to what had been a fine race for the Dutchwoman.
Continue reading below the video.
ADVERTISEMENT
Koch wins the velodrome sprint by half a wheel
At the front, Ferrand-Prévot continued to sacrifice herself entirely for her Dutch teammate. Vos only had to clear the final hurdle: getting around Koch on the Roubaix Vélodrome. The German chose chaos over convention, attacking with four kilometres to go.
Koch drove a steady tempo from there and led into the sprint. To everyone's surprise, she held off Vos and the Visma | Lease a Bike duo. A deserved win for Koch — but a painful result for Vos who now has two Roubaix runners up trophies.
Results Paris-Roubaix 2026 - elite women
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
IDL-productions
How Evenepoel’s race plan was partly thrown out after just 80 kilometres because of Bahrain Victorious team car
Scheldeprijs 2026 | Sprinters’ world championship, or rather a Belgium-Netherlands duel between Groenewegen, Merlier and Philipsen?
“Not just me, but the whole peloton was strangled”: how ‘Poga constrictor’ left Van der Poel stuck at 650 watts
‘I hadn’t had that question yet, nice’: Tadej Pogačar has an answer for almost everything after Tour of Flanders win
Demi Vollering celebrates Tour of Flanders win with Namaste gesture and explains what it means to her
Latest Cycling News
Laporte emotional after Van Aert's Roubaix victory: 'Just as happy as if I'd won it myself'
Christoph Roodhooft accepts blame after Van der Poel pedal incident: "Very stupid of me"
🎥 Ferrand-Prévot consoles Vos: "I asked the team if I could take part to help her."
Van der Poel graciously congratulates Wout van Aert after Paris-Roubaix puncture-fest
Wout van Aert dedicates Paris-Roubaix win to deceased teammate: 'This win is for him and his family'
Popular Cycling News
Wout van Aert dedicates Paris-Roubaix win to deceased teammate: 'This win is for him and his family'
Van Aert outsprints Pogačar at Paris-Roubaix as punctures puts Van der Poel out of contention
Spaghetti legs, but Pogačar doesn't blame bad luck: 'Dropping Van Aert was mission impossible'
🎥 Junior Paris-Roubaix marred by heavy crash with spectator as multi-talent Wiersma wins
Van der Poel graciously congratulates Wout van Aert after Paris-Roubaix puncture-fest
Latest Comments
- Rider X, y and z? Could you update?yaNzKEWL21-03-2026
- Can anyone help me understand the thinking behind the two punishments? Are the commissaires saying you get thrown out of the race for a second inadvertent disposal of a bidon (even to the delight of fans) but that as long as you can afford it you can show off your phalangeal cuticles all day long on international TV? Aking for a friend.packfiller7112-03-2026
- It's a bit embarrassing that. Isn't the main sponsor supposed to keep them at 36.5 ?tomjacques03-03-2026
- They were close to cracking a very tired Tadej that wasn't fully focused on the TdF with a team of riders focused solely on cracking Tadej. And if they cracked him, he would have still won. Tadej won't be racing the giro this year. It'll be an even easier win for him.Veganpotter09-02-2026
- Nice!Bea22-01-2026
- Those events are mental rest for him. Fun, without expectations. *Sagan lost his abilities because he gained weight and got lazy. Pogi will likely retire before that has a chance at happening.Veganpotter14-12-2025
- Ah, the consequences of riding for Israel.Veganpotter11-12-2025
- Pidcock could follow everyone but Pogi while finishing 3rd. No second place rider this season😃Veganpotter16-11-2025
- Now the Palestinian protestors can stop their whining. Trump came to the rescue. So they can now STFU and go back to waving the rainbow flags.raufus15-10-2025
- Cracked the code lol. If it was that easy to 'crack the code' jonny Vegas would be charging up the Kwaremont giving Pog a dose of his medicine. Evenepoel can't match pog on a climb and neither can mvdp. Anything with a half difficult climb and Pog smashes the field. Even on flat(ish)parcours like Roubaix it came down to a mistake and crash by pog to definitively crown mvdp. MSR is the only one that Pog probably won't win.kevpt10-10-2025
Loading
