Modern Adventure and Unibet Rose Rockets secure wildcards for renamed Paris-Roubaix

Seven ProTeams have been selected to join the eighteen WorldTour squads on the start line of the men’s Paris-Roubaix, which takes place on April 12. 

Cofidis, Pinarello Q36.5, Team Flanders-Baloise, TotalEnergies, Tudor and Unibet Rose Rockets will all line up at the race, and there is also a place for debutants Modern Adventure Pro Cycling.

The American team, managed by George Hincapie and his brother Richard, are in their first season in the professional peloton. They will make their WorldTour debut at the UAE Tour next week. 

The men’s route will be 258.3km in 2026, just marginally shorter than the 259.2km distance last year. Across 30 sectors, the riders will cover a total of 54.8km of cobblestones, with the the Trouée d’Arenberg, Mons-en-Pévèle, and Carrefour de l’Arbre remaining crucial.

The race will follow a similar format to the 2024 edition. After hitting Troisvilles and the first cobbles after around 100km of racing, the first four sectors of pave will come one after the other, increasing the opportunity for the race to blow apart early, as it did in 2024.

“By veering slightly east towards the village of Briastre, we arrive at a situation where the first four sectors follow one another in quick succession, with almost no asphalt in between, creating an unmatched density of cobbles,” explained race director Thierry Gouvenou in an announcement by ASO.

“Two years ago, Alpecin-Deceuninck had already begun to scatter the peloton at this stage. And at the end of this sequence, we are adding sector #26, even more rarely used and featuring an 800-metre climb.” 

Paris-Roubaix Femmes will feature three new cobblestone sectors as part of a total of 33.7km of cobbles. The route will begin in Denain once more, and the key addition is the four-star Haveluy sector at km 52.4, which has the potential to blow the race apart. 

"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 Gouvenou.

All 14 Women’s WorldTour teams will feature, alongside seven ProTeams. These ProTeams include the likes of Cofidis, Lotto-Intermarché Ladies, Mayenne Monbana My Pie, St Michel Preference Home-Auber93, and Volkerwessels. 

There are race debuts for the Spanish team, Laboral Kutxa Fundación and the French side, Ma Petite Entreprise

For the very first time, both the men’s and women’s races will be held on the same day, on Sunday, 12 April, with the men’s race set to finish first.

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma | Lease a Bike) are the defending champions.