The 5 best cobbled classics riders in history: Will you agree with our list?
Cycling
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)
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- What can you expect though from something that is free.......Cyclingsbestfan25-03-2025
- The guy has changed teams so often they are not sure what one is currently his.Cyclingsbestfan25-03-2025
- Do you honestly not have a picture of Ewan in his correct team kit?JoBro25-03-2025
- that sounds right. at Roubaix, any of the strong riders who has better luck than the other elites can win. not the case at flanders, where THE strongest almost always wins. (which means rvv will be either tadej or mathieu.)OCexile25-03-2025
- Yes try riding same distances as themen as courses as hard. No point wanting same money if you are not putting the miles and same work in.paultryan200225-03-2025
- Come on, shorter stages, easier stages, less stages, easier one day races, shorter one day races, far lesser competition, slower speed, lack of bike handling skills and strategy … you can demand equality where it is due.. but that is rather not the case here. The men’s race was 20x more entertaining, so receiving 10x less is rather fair.
UltimateOpportunist25-03-2025 - this is officially the stupidest article i’ve ever read about cycling, or maybe anything else. i want those 2 minutes of my life back…OCexile25-03-2025
- I agree, this article is silly. Pogacar won that TdF because he was stronger than Roglic on the time trial not because he was unknown. Each rider has their own strengths and ride to those. Each of the classics and monuments have their own unique features that the riders must strategize.GB25-03-2025
- Yes, I think he still has a lot to say in road cycling. In the CX races he showed a very good gear but... the problem was essentially his NERVOUSNESS then he took bad decisions in finding the best strategies and paths. He needs confidence (calm down) and maybe a very good preparation gave him that.
maria2024202425-03-2025 - I don't believe so sadly, much as pulling another rider into that group I think Tadej and MVDP have raised the game so far they are essentially untouchable. The spoils of this season will be split between them, I believe Tadej will take RVV, LBL and Lombardia, MVDP MSR and Roubaix. I'm not even sure Remco will be at their level when he comes back. Tadej and MVDP are just a step above everyone elseslappers6625-03-2025