Franziska Koch stuns Visma duo Marianne Vos and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot to claim Paris-Roubaix Femmes title
Updated 12/04/2026 at 19:53 GMT+1
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Franziska Koch stunned Visma-Lease a Bike duo Marianne Vos and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot to take a shock Paris-Roubaix Femmes title. Koch was put under pressure by the two legends of the sport, with defending champion Ferrand-Prevot riding on the front to tee up Vos, but she swatted away the attacks before landing a stunning win in the iconic velodrome for the biggest win of her career.
'Elbow to elbow!' - Koch stuns Vos in thrilling Paris-Roubaix Femmes sprint
Video credit: TNT Sports
German champion Franziska Koch claimed the biggest victory of her career as she pipped Marianne Vos to win her first Monument at Paris-Roubaix Femmes on Sunday.
Koch (FDJ United-SUEZ), who previously finished seventh in 2021, made the initial move with 45.8km to go on Sector 11 (Mons-en-Pevele), with the trio of defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, Marianne Vos (both Visma-Lease a Bike) and Blanka Vas (SD Worx-Protime) the only riders able to follow.
The four-rider breakaway grew their advantage to over 1'30" before Vas was distanced with 22km to go after another surging attack by Koch.
The trio reached the Roubaix velodrome together, with Ferrand-Prevot leading out the sprint to tee up team-mate Vos, who was looking for her second Monument.
However, the three-time world champion was left stunned as 25-year-old Koch held on to beat the Visma duo and become the first German winner since John Degenkolb in 2015 to win the cobbled Monument.
It was her compatriot Rosa Maria Kloser (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) who formed the only solo breakaway of the day with 132km to go, growing her advantage to just over a minute before being reeled back in by the peloton with 77km remaining.
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'Elbow to elbow!' - Koch stuns Vos in thrilling Paris-Roubaix Femmes sprint
Video credit: TNT Sports
Countless mechanicals saw the likes of Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) and Elise Chabbey (FDJ United-SUEZ) forced to use energy to close the gap, with Visma-Lease a Bike taking control of large parts of the race.
Balsamo, who finished second in 2024, was forced to abandon soon after.
The deciding move would occur during the first five-star sector in Mons-en-Pevele (Sector 11) as Koch took advantage of the dirt tracks on the side of the road to position herself at the front of the peloton.
Following in second wheel behind Visma-Lease a Bike, it was Koch who launched her attack with 45.8km remaining towards the end of the sector.
A reaction from defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot saw a group of four containing teammate Vos, SD Worx-Protime's Blanka Vas and Koch distance themselves from the bunch.
Steered by the engine of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift winner, who was working on behalf of her teammate, the quartet continued to grow the gap to over 1'30" as series of attacks by the chasing group came to no avail.
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Pauline Ferrand-Prevot leads front group
Image credit: Getty Images
Sector 6 (Bourghelles a Wannehain) provided the next decisive moment as Hungarian champion Blanka Vas was dropped when Koch attacked with 23.9km to go, with Marianne Vos glued to her wheel.
Ferrand-Prevot quickly closed the gap to rejoin her teammate, but was dropped again as Koch again tried to distance herself from the Visma-Lease a Bike duo on Sector 5 (Camphin-en-Pevele).
The final five-star sector of the afternoon in Sector 4 (Carrefour de l'Arbre) saw the German champion continue to throw everything at the Visma-Lease a Bike duo, with Vos unfazed and attempting to distance Koch with 15.7km to go.
Despite several surges in pace by Koch, the race would come down to a lap and a half around the Roubaix velodrome as Ferrand-Prevot led out her team-mate Vos with 500m to go, with Koch reacting and pipping the three-time world champion on the line.
Defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot completed the podium on her second appearance at the third Monument, while 2024 champion Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx Protime) finished fourth alongside Megan Jastrab (UAE Team ADQ).
Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) brought home the peloton 2'20" behind, including British duo Zoe Backstedt (Canyon-SRAM zondacrypto) and Pfeiffer Georgi (Picnic-PostNL).
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(L-R) Marianne Vos of Netherlands and Team Visma | Lease a Bike and Franziska Koch of Germany and Team FDJ United - SUEZ sprint at finish line to win during the 6th Paris-Roubaix Femmes Hauts-de-France 2026 - Women's Elite a 143.1km one day race from Denain to Roubaix / #UCIWWT / on April 12, 2026 in Roubaix, France.
Image credit: Getty Images
Speaking after her stunning victory, the 25-year-old German said: "It’s kind of hard to believe. I’ve been dreaming of it and I’ve been really hoping it would work out but Paris-Roubaix is a race where anything can happen. In the end it worked out, it’s like a dream.
"We knew positioning at the beginning was key, it’s like a war going into the cobbled section and we were fully committed to invest early into the race," she said.
"I managed to stay out of the trouble and always be in the top ten entering the cobbled section. After Mons-en-Pevele, we knew we wanted to make the race hard and I ended up in the perfect move.
"I tried to get rid of [Vos and Ferrand-Prevot] a little bit, but in the end, I had to gamble for the sprint and it worked out.
"From the first edition in 2021, I knew I liked this race and one day I would want to win it, and today’s the day."
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