The cobbled classics are mainly contested in the spring. The most important are the E3 Saxo Classic, Gent-Wevelgem and, of course, the two monuments, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. All of them are contested in Belgium, with the exception of the latter, which takes place on the streets of France.
In this article we want to talk about the specialists in such races. As you can see below, there are several well-placed Belgians, but there is one Swiss who got in the middle. We are of course talking about Fabian Cancellara, one of the best time trialists in history but he was also good on the cobbles.
His great rival for this part of the season has always been Tom Boonen, who has a truly enviable record. For the others, we have to go back years. The oldest of them all is Rik van Looy, perhaps the first great classicist. Then there's the usual, Eddy Merckx. And finally, Patrick Lefevere's first great protégé, the legendary Johan Museeuw. Take a look at the stats down below and see if you agree with our list!
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1. Tom Boonen (15)
- 5x E3 Saxo Classic (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012)
- 3x Gent-Wevelgem (2004, 2011, 2012)
- 3x Tour of Flanders (2005, 2006, 2012)
- 4x Paris-Roubaix (2005, 2008, 2009, 2012)
2. Rik van Looy (12)
- 4x E3 Saxo Classic (1964, 1965, 1966, 1969)
- 3x Gent-Wevelgem (1956, 1957, 1962)
- 2x Tour of Flanders (1959, 1962)
- 3x Paris-Roubaix (1961, 1962, 1965)
3. Fabian Cancellara (9)
- 3x E3 Saxo Classic (2010, 2011, 2013)
- 3x Tour of Flanders (2010, 2013, 2014).
- 3x Paris-Roubaix (2006, 2010, 2013)
4. Eddy Merckx (8)
- 3x Gent-Wevelgem (1967, 1970, 1973)
- 2x Tour of Flanders (1969, 1975)
- 3x Paris-Roubaix (1968, 1970, 1973)
5. Johan Museeuw (8)
- 2x E3 Saxo Classic (1992, 1998)
- 3x Tour of Flanders (1993, 1995, 1998)
- 3x Paris-Roubaix (1996, 2000, 2002)
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- b.s. headline. Jonas wasn't told anything, it is just a pundit telling him what to do. the actual article is not even close to the insinuation of the headline.mij15-11-2026
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- If you go watch some races from last season other riders that have never caught Jonas...are now catching him. Some are just riding away from him and he can't hold the wheelmd197514-11-2026
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- POG1, another nice doc about our favourite, I watched most of it with a big smile on my face (except for the bits about his crashes 😢 obvs!).Lozza14-11-2026
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MVDP even had time to support Philipsen 💪 Having won Paris-Roubaix by 3min, Mathieu Van der Poel was able to watch team-mate Jasper Philipsen sprint to second place.
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