Forget longer days, blossoming plants and warmer weather. The real highlight of Spring has arrived – the Queen of the Classics, Paris-Roubaix.
Dust clings to sweaty faces, contorted in a grimace as they rush by at speeds in excess of 50kmh. The rattle of bike and bone as rider and machine traverse what should be unraceable terrain. There is a reason that so many cycling fans make the pilgrimage to the pavé of Roubaix – to fill their senses with the incomparable chaos of the Hell of the North. Those watching at home eschew all other plans to pour their focus into the spectacle unfolding on television. Paris-Roubaix is completely bonkers. And that’s why we love it.
Into this chaos, Lidl-Trek arrives on all fronts. A change for 2026 sees all four races (Men, Women, U23, U19) take place on a single Sunday in Hell, with the team represented across each one.
After a remarkable recovery from a broken collarbone and wrist sustained in February, Mads Pedersen has shown he has the form (4th at Milano-Sanremo, 5th at Ronde van Vlaanderen) to aim for the top spot in Roubaix. The former world champion has been knocking on the door for years and finished on the podium in the previous two editions. Driven by his quest to win one of cycling’s monuments, the Dane has done everything in his power to make this year the one where his dreams come true. The latest episode of All Access charts Pedersen’s comeback from injury to cobble-ready, and is perfect pre-Roubaix hype material.
“I would say Roubaix is the monument that fits me the best, even with the biggest stars of cycling starting then it’s still a race where I can dream of winning. It’s so ruthless, so tough, and maybe that’s also something that attracts me to it. It’s so stupid, it makes absolutely no sense. And sometimes I like what’s stupid and what’s not normal. So, I would definitely say it’s just because it’s a ridiculous race – in a good way – and that’s why it fits me.” – Mads Pedersen
Pedersen isn’t the only former world champion dreaming of victory in the velodrome. Elisa Balsamo, runner up in 2024, has come to love the brutality of the Hell of the North and is intent on bringing home the cobblestone trophy. A series of crashes in recent seasons have made the road here harder than it should have been, but through every setback her determination and resilience have shone through – and on the unforgiving northern pavé, those qualities count for as much as legs.
“So, I need to say now, that in a really deep part of myself, I like Paris-Roubaix. It took some years to arrive at this point because, yes, if I think about Roubaix, I think only about what a really hard race it is, but then, I don’t know, once you are here, you realise that there is something special in this race.
In the first years, I couldn’t really find this something special, but now, I feel it. I think when I was second, I realised that maybe I could win this race one day and I think something also changed in my perspective about the race. Even though I know that tomorrow, once I’m going to be on the sectors, I’m not going to like it, but then, maybe the day after, if I think back on it, then I will be happy that I raced.” – Elisa Balsamo
Lidl-Trek’s development squad, Future Racing, have a perfect record in Roubaix, having claimed victory in both editions since the team’s inception (Teutenberg – 2024, Philipsen – 2025). The young guns return on the hunt for a third successive success with a strong lineup, including Spaniard Héctor Álvarez, who has impressed in his races so far this season.
On Sunday afternoon, Lidl-Trek’s riders will arrive, exhausted, in the historic Roubaix Velodrome, their day in Hell complete for another year. Friendly faces will be there to greet them in the track centre, handing them a cool drink and offering a momentary reprieve from the pain of their raw, numb hands before exhaustion gives way to relief. Whilst the television cameras focus on the fight for the crown, each rider that arrives in this sacred arena brings a story of their efforts on the cobbles. And we will tell them.
