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Who are the favourites for Paris-Roubaix 2025?
Paris-Roubaix weekend is almost upon us. On Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th April the women’s and men’s peloton’s best Classics talents will descend on the cobbles of northern France to do battle.
Lotte Kopecky and Mathieu van der Poel will return to try to defend their titles but will do so against a plethora of big names looking to win a big cobblestone of their own for the first time, including some bloke from Slovenia you might have heard of.
So who are the big names to watch this weekend?
Paris-Roubaix Femmes 2025 favourites
Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime)
Defending champion Lotte Kopecky is back to defend her title, once again wearing the rainbow jersey and once again as the favourite. After a few outings playing domestique and a second place at Dwars door Vlaanderen, the Belgian sprinted to victory at the Tour of Flanders this past weekend to kick start her season in style.
Last year, Kopecky won Paris-Roubaix Femmes in a five-woman sprint to the line in the velodrome, and if anyone else wants to win they’ll likely have to drop her somewhere along the way.
Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike)
Marianne Vos has over 250 wins, but none of these come from Paris-Roubaix. That’s largely thanks to the women’s race only having four editions, but a cobblestone seems like a natural fit in well in her trophy room. With several cyclocross world titles (and one gravel) already filling space, she’s clearly unafraid of the cobbles and mud, and will always pack a punch at the end of a big race.
Her best result in the race was second place in the inaugural (very wet) edition behind Lizzie Deignan, who had attacked before the TV coverage had even started. Vos was just pipped to the final podium spot last year in a photo finish.
Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime)
The best sprinter in the women’s peloton by some distance, Lorena Wiebes has already amassed seven victories in 2025 including the first edition of the revived women’s Milan-San Remo. Even more so than Kopecky, Wiebes will need to be dropped before the velodrome (especially considering Kopecky would likely lead Wiebes out if they were both there together), and she was only 28 seconds off the lead group in 2024, so the rest of the field will be very afraid.
Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek)
Another rider primed for a sprint is Elisa Balsamo. The Italian is in good form having just won sprinters’ Classic Scheldprijs (with Wiebes absent) and getting on the podium at Brugge-De Panne, Gent-Wevelgem and Dwars door Vlaanderen.
Balsamo has had mixed fortunes in Paris-Roubaix. She was disqualified in 2022, came 58th in 2023 and then finished second behind Kopecky last year. She’ll be looking to finally claim that top step but has lost three sprints in one-day races to Wiebes so far this season.
Pfeiffer Georgi (Picnic-PostNL)
Pfeiffer Georgi produced one of the moments of the season when she beat Vos to the final podium spot at Paris-Roubaix last year. She’s yet to win this year, her best result being seventh at Omloop Nieuwsblad, but anything can happen at Paris-Roubaix and her experience will serve her well. If she makes the decisive group, she has a very good sprint, and she could well benefit from other favourites looking at each other to escape solo.
Outside bets
EF’s Noemi Rüegg is one to watch. Having won the Tour Down Under in January, the 23-year-old then went on to place ninth at Strade Bianche, sixth at Trofeo Alfredo Binda and third at Milan-San Remo. She’s got the power and she’s got the sprint. This will also be Rüegg’s teammate (and Olympic gold medallist) Kristen Faulkner’s second road race of the year, and when she targets a race you can be sure she’ll contend.
There’s also superstar Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, who has had a great return to the road with podiums at Strade Bianche and the Tour of Flanders. Youngster (and cyclocross rider) Cat Ferguson has been getting stuck in at the front of races and could pair up with teammate Marlen Reusser, who has the massive engine to suit this race perfectly.
Finally AG Insurance-Soudal’s Kim Le Court is due a big win after consistently high placings throughout the Classics..
Paris-Roubaix 2025 favourites
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
The flying Dutchman returns to Paris-Roubaix as the defending champion and is primed to get a third cobblestone for his shelf. Van der Poel heads to Compiègne after a strong start to the season including a second Milan-San Remo win, however he didn’t quite have the legs to keep up with Tadej Pogačar on the climbs of the Tour of Flanders.
Alpecin-Deceuninck have been dominating Paris-Roubaix in recent years with Van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen taking the 1-2 in both 2023 and 2024. Last year he rode clear almost 60km from the finish and looked sensational, with this race’s flatter profile, he goes in as the favourite.
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG)
It’s an exciting prospect to say the least having Tadej Pogačar make his debut at Paris-Roubaix. He has previously stayed clear of the Hell of the North to avoid the risk of injury pre-Tour de France, however he’s decided now is the time to make his first appearance in the rainbow stripes while fresh off his second Tour of Flanders victory.
Pogačar has won both rough-surface Classics he’s entered so far this season at Strade Bianche and the Tour of Flanders, but came up short on his lessy hilly target, Milan-San Remo. Will Paris-Roubaix prove too flat for the Slovenian to launch clear? Or will his raw power and bike handling ability guide him to his penultimate Monument?
Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)
Mads Pedersen looks to be in the form of his life. He climbed out of his skin at Paris-Nice, won Gent-Wevelgem with an almighty 56km solo breakaway and came second behind Pogačar at the Tour of Flanders, but he’ll undoubtably be looking for more.
History at Paris-Roubaix dictates he’s on track to finish second after a fourth place in 2023 and a third place in 2024. He’s one of the few riders who could best Van der Poel in a sprint, but he’d likely struggle against Philipsen. Pedersen has his own double card to play though, with teammate Jasper Stuyven also looking in good shape, so Lidl-Trek could and should be looking to shake things up.
Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike)
This has largely been a Classics campaign to forget for Visma-Lease a Bike and Wout van Aert, neither achieving a single victory in the cobbled Classics so far. The recent embarrassment of a 3 vs 1 defeat to EF Education-EasyPost’s Neilson Powless at Dwars door Vlaanderen just adds insult to injury.
He might be down but he’s certainly not out. He delivered his best performance of the year so far at Flanders, at one point going clear at the front, and he’ll be hungrier than ever to win just his second Monument. He’s been strong at Paris-Roubaix in the past, and may have won it in 2023 were it not for an untimely puncture. One win is all it takes to turn a season around.
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Philipsen has been the bridesmaid at Paris-Roubaix the last two seasons. His duo with Van der Poel is a balancing act well managed by Alpecin-Deceuninck so far, and if he’s in a position to sprint for the win in the velodrome, it will be his time to shine.
He hasn’t quite looked at full power in the sprints this season, with only one win under his belt in Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, but he’ll almost definitely already have sent his sprinting rivals packing come the business end of the race on Sunday.
Outside bets
Stefan Küng typically goes well at Paris-Roubaix, coming fifth in both 2023 and 2024 after riding to a podium in 2022. In all the Classics this year, he’s placed in the top ten, and you wouldn’t want to be the one chasing him down should he get a gap. Filippo Ganna is looking incredibly strong so far, a mightily impressive second at Milan-San Remo and third out of his comfort zone at E3 Saxo Classic. Roubaix will be a big target for the Italian, so expect aggressive racing.
Finally, look out for XDS-Astana, their riders have been near the pointy end in 2025 with Davide Ballerini and Mike Teunissen 10th and 12th respectively at the Tour of Flanders.
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