Updated March 3, 2026 03:46AM
What do monument favorites Wout van Aert, Marianne Vos, and Michael Matthews have in common at the opening of the spring classics?
They are the established heavyweights and fan favorites chasing a big spring win that’s starting to feel long overdue.
Don’t call it a monument curse — it’s just the cruel reality of an era dominated by generational juggernauts who are leaving scraps for everyone else.
Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel have terrorized the monuments the past three years, hogging 13 of 15 wins between them. It’s the same in women’s racing, with Demi Vollering, Elisa Longo Borghini, and Lotte Kopecky taking their oversized share of the bouquets.
It’s rough business trying to squeeze out space and a win against these generational greats, even for the peloton’s top-line riders.
Cycling history is full of winning talent who, for one reason or another, never quite got their full due in the grueling, sometimes-random trenches of the spring classics.
Unlike the grand tours, where power numbers and team budgets can tip the balance, the classics and monuments can still turn on verve, luck, and tactical brawn.
For battle-hardened pros who have knocked on the door year after year, missing out on a Ronde van Vlaanderen or Paris-Roubaix is not exactly a sleepless-night scenario, especially when their respective palmarès are usually littered with other glittering trophies.
Greg Van Avermaet never won the Ronde, but the Olympic gold medal certainly helped take the edge off any regret.
There are a few names on this list who will have to wait.
Stefan Küng, the perennial Roubaix challenger, broke his femur at Omloop Nieuwsblad and is out for the entire classics season in a brutal Opening Weekend. Tim Wellens, a key part of UAE’s classics arsenal, snapped a collarbone and will also be out.
Spring hope runs eternal as a wave of nearly men and women, underdogs, and serial close-call finishers barnstorm into the classics with nothing to lose and a legacy to gain.
And sometimes the stars align. Mathew Hayman, a faithful lieutenant and Paris-Roubaix working man, beat cobbles king Tom Boonen in 2016. Or the scorcher last year from Pauline Ferrand-Prévot to stun everyone in the Hell of the North.
It’s that kind of two-wheeled lottery ticket that keeps everyone coming back for more.
A near-miss is not defeat, but rather jet fuel that keeps that belief burning for another season in cycling’s gladiator ring.
From this weekend’s Strade Bianche to Liège-Bastogne-Liège, it’s eight glorious weeks of non-stop racing. Two months for cycling’s underdogs to finally land one.
Wout van Aert: Still chasing the dream
Everyone’s favorite. Van Aert is kind of like the Chicago Cubs of the spring classics.
He’s won some huge races, including Milan-San Remo, grand tour stages, and plenty of one days, so if there’s an asterisk next to his palmarès, it’s a small one.
The sentimental favorite for many, Visma-Lease a Bike and Van Aert are chasing a monument win again this spring that sometimes looks further away than ever. Victory in the monuments against MVDP and Pogačar might make that seem like a mirage.
An ankle injury during cyclocross season and illness after an altitude camp are far from ideal, but he’s been able to train and will make his delayed season debut Tuesday at Le Samyn.
In cycling, many old-timers say there are no miracles, but WVA might need one in 2026.
Spring targets: Ename Samyn Classic, Strade Bianche, Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-San Remo, Ronde van Vlaanderen, and Paris-Roubaix.
Winning scenario: He’ll be too undercooked to match the flares on Oude Kwaremont at Flanders, but he goes deep at Paris-Roubaix, avoids crashes and punctures, and wins a three-up sprint against Van der Poel and Pogačar.
Jasper Stuyven: New team, same dream
He’s already got one monument with Milan-San Remo, so he can sleep easy, but he’d cut off his right arm to win the Tour of Flanders.
His move to classics machine Soudal Quick-Step should give him new sensations that could play out on the road.
The reborn Wolfpack, featuring old hands Dylan Van Baarle, Yves Lampaert, and new kid Paul Magnier, could give him wings in unexpected ways.
He’s had some crushing close calls, including just missing a world’s medal on home roads in 2021, but his big, burly engine could make him the ultimate outsider, especially at a race like Paris-Roubaix.
Spring targets: Paris-Nice, Milan-San Remo, E3 Saxo Classic, Gent-Wevelgem, Ronde van Vlaanderen, and Paris-Roubaix.
Winning scenario: The stars align, he attacks early at Paris-Roubaix, Pogačar chases him down but cannot drop him, and wins a miracle sprint on the velodrome.
Chloé Dygert: On the road again
Everyone’s waiting for that big win in Europe from one of America’s best. Second to Kopecky at the 2024 worlds was almost it.
The Olympic track gold medalist still packs her world time trial champion’s motor and ambition to go the distance in the spring classics.
Staying upright and at the front of the action continues to impact her ability to be there when the decisive moves go clear. Eighth last year at Roubaix hints at more.
Injury during her Australian stint didn’t help, but she’s used to coming back from soul-crushing setbacks.
Spring targets: Gent-Wevelgem, TBD
Winning scenario: Uses her depth to go the Roubaix distance and wins in a photo-finish sprint against Kopecky.
Michael Matthews: Still banging away
Bling brings it on the big days. A stage-winner in all three grand tours, he’s been through the wringer with health setbacks, close calls, and bad luck that always kept him short of winning a monument.
Relegated off the Flanders podium in 2024, second to Philipsen in San Remo. He missed the 2025 Tour de France due to a life-threatening pulmonary embolism discovered during an altitude training camp.
His recovery seems on track, and an early win at GP Castellón in January, his first since his health scare, confirms he still packs a lethal kick in a reduced bunch.
He’s one of Pogačar’s best buddies, so maybe he’s picked up a few insights on how to crack the Pogačar Code. The time is now.
Spring targets: Milan-San Remo, E3 Saxo Classic, Gent-Wevelgem, Ronde van Vlaanderen, Amstel Gold Race, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Winning scenario: Finds jet fuel to stay with Pogačar over the Poggio and wins a photo-finish bike stab on the Via Roma.
Marianne Vos: Giving the queen her due
Arguably the greatest of all time, it seems time for Vos to win Paris-Roubaix Femmes this year.
She’s won just about everything else in her career, and the Hell of the North is the race that’s perfect for her racing style and her multi-disciplinary skillset.
She was second in the inaugural race in 2021. Another 10th and back-to-back fourths confirm she’s close.
Riders like Lorena Wiebes and Lotte Kopecky will beat her in a reduced kick in the velodrome. To win, she needs to finish alone.
Spring targets: Strade Bianche Donne, Milan-San Remo Donne, Ronde van Vlaanderen, Paris-Roubaix Femmes, and Amstel Gold Race Ladies Edition.
Winning scenario: Rides everyone off her wheel on the Carrefour de l’Arbre and wins in the velodrome all alone in the photo.
Quinn Simmons: No longer waiting in the wings
Who wouldn’t love to see a two-wheeled Hulk Hogan win a monument? Something extraordinary would have to happen, but Simmons is getting stronger by the year.
His monster training regimen is paying dividends, and last year he had some impressive hit outs to hint he’s reaching a new, higher level.
A junior world champion in 2019, Simmons has sometimes chafed at his frustration that he hasn’t been able to explode like peers like Remco Evenepoel, but he keeps banging his head against the wall.
Two WorldTour wins in 2025 and a solid top 10 at Il Lombardia bode well for classics consistency.
A pivot toward the hillier classics won’t see him at Flanders or Roubaix, and tilts Strade Bianche and Amstel Gold Race will see him lining up against Pogačar.
A big win is a big ask this spring.
Spring targets: Strade Bianche and Amstel Gold Race.
Winning scenario: Attacks early, avoids crashes and punctures that delay the favorites, drops breakaway companion on the Via Santa Caterina. OK, it’s not a monument, but it would feel like one.
Kim Le Court Pienaar: Not waiting her turn
She blew up 2025 with victories at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, a stage at the Tour de France Femmes, and a spell in yellow.
It’s not a far ask to see her extend her reach into the cobblestone classics to broaden her monument reach. Fifth last year at Flanders and 10th at Roubaix in 2024 confirm her potential on the rough stuff.
More of a punchier climber, she should go well at Flanders this year. If anyone can get past classics queens Kopecky and Longo-Borghini, she can.
Spring targets: Strade Bianche Donne, Milan-San Remo Donne, TBD
Winning scenario: Using her climbing chops to gap everyone on the Oude Kwaremont-Paterberg combo and solos home for the win.
Mads Pedersen: Race against time
Big Mads is a classics brawler who’s won some big races, including back-to-back editions of Gent-Wevelgem.
A world champion in 2019, Pedersen is pure brawn who’s won stages and points jerseys in all three grand tours, major one-day classics, and 60 pro races. All that’s missing is the jewel in his monument crown.
The big Dane packs the monument muscle to go the six-hour distance, and if anyone can break the Pog-MVDP stranglehold on the cobblestone classics, it’s Pedersen.
A broken clavicle at the Volta a Valenciana in his season debut came at the worst time, but with today’s advanced injury recovery, there’s still hope he will be close to full power for Flanders and Roubaix, the two races that best suit his 4×4 motor.
Spring targets: Milan-San Remo, E3 Saxo Classic, In Flanders Fields, Dwars door Vlaanderen, Ronde van Vlaanderen, and Paris-Roubaix.
Winning scenario: For once, things don’t go wrong, and he wins a three-up sprint into the velodrome.