Defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Marianne Vos will both ride Paris-Roubaix after all this year, Visma-Lease a Bike confirmed on Thursday morning.
The Frenchwoman, a rather surprising winner in 2025, had initially planned to skip Roubaix this spring in favour of training for the Ardennes and handing leadership back to Vos, but she will be on the start line in Denain again.
Last Sunday, after finishing second at the Tour of Flanders, Ferrand-Prévot already hinted that a last-minute participation was possible, with teammate Vos missing De Ronde after the death of her father.
"We have to see how Marianne is feeling," she said on Sunday. "For now, it's just really sad, and we miss her a lot today. We have to see how she feels and make a decision."
As Visma announced their team and confirmed Vos would be back, accompanying words from her detailed the tough time she's had in recent weeks, but how her motivation for Roubaix remained.
"It has been a very difficult period. It was good and important for me to spend the past few weeks with my family," said Vos, whose father was always one of her biggest supporters. "This week, I’ve tried to get back to normal life again, and of course the bike is an important part of that.
"Even though the cobbled sectors can feel like torture, the road leading to the Vélodrome in Roubaix is beautiful. This race is so unique in cycling. I absolutely love it.
"I’m going to give it everything I have, and as a team we will definitely try to go for the win again."
Despite the fact that this is also a late call-up for Ferrand-Prévot, that should do nothing to dent her chances, as her 2025 participation was also up in the air until the last second, and she even came close to pulling out on the morning of the race before going on to win.
This year, she will once again start in Denain coming off the back of second in the Tour of Flanders, where she admitted post-race that her power may currently be better than her climbing – something which would bode well for Roubaix.
"Because I've been training in altitude quite a lot now, also on the longer climbs, so I can feel that I'm a bit less explosive at the moment," she said. "Maybe better in the threshold power than really in the VO2 max."
Whether she has been preparing for a Roubaix return or not, Ferrand-Prévot will start on Sunday with number 1 on her back and therefore as a big favourite to potentially defend her title, or help Vos to her first.
Joining the two long-term stars of the sport will be Lieke Nooijen, Nienke Veenhoven, Daniek Hengeveld and Margaux Vigié for Visma-Lease a Bike.
Get unlimited access to our unrivalled 2026 Spring Classics coverage with a Cyclingnews subscription. We'll bring you breaking news, reports, and analysis from some of the biggest races on the calendar, including Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders. Find out more.
