From the season’s most impressive super-domestique to Paris-Roubaix champion.
Cor Vos
The deck was stacked against Franzi Koch (FDJ United-Suez) in the Paris-Roubaix Femmes finale.
The German champion’s only companions in the leading trio were two riders from the same rival team – the greatest of all time, Marianne Vos, and defending champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, an all-timer in her own right. Koch had attacking repeatedly in the last hour of the race, surely blunting her final sprint. And she was heading for that sprint against Vos, still one of the best sprinters in the world, and a rider with more motivation than most to win.
That Koch still emerged victorious was certainly unexpected. But given the way her 2026 season has unfolded so far, it was far from a shock victory.
Even before this weekend, Koch was already the rider of the spring. The signs were there from her very first one-day race with FDJ United-Suez, Omloop Nieuwsblad. The 25-year-old’s ferocious tempo on the Muur van Geraadsbergen, riding in support of eventual winner Demi Vollering, was the defining moment of the race.
At Strade Bianche, when Vollering suffered a mechanical and slipped out of contention, Koch (and teammate Elise Chabbey) took up the mantle and rode the perfect finale to give Chabbey the win and third place for Koch. And at the Tour of Flanders last week, it was Koch that again launched Vollering to victory. The German lit the touch paper at the base of the Oude Kwaremont before Vollering burned the race to the ground.
As FDJ United-Suez has grown into the biggest and best team in the world, Koch has been instrumental. Vollering might be the taliswoman, and Chabbey continues to rise through the ranks, but in 2026, Koch has been the glue. That she’s now managed top-10 finishes in five of the six Classics she’s started this year, most of those while riding in a support role, speaks volumes.
At Paris-Roubaix on Sunday, Koch was the last rider to get across to the winning move when Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike) surged on a rare strip of uphill tarmac with 45 km to go. From that point on, Koch was the primary aggressor. Her surge on sector 6, with just 24 km left to race, distanced Blanka Vas (SD Worx-Protime) and ultimately left Koch with just Vos and Ferrand-Prévot for company.
At least five times Koch attacked in that finale, each time leaving Ferrand-Prévot behind and forcing the Frenchwoman to doggedly fight back. But coming into the velodrome, all three were still together and the advantage was very much in Vos’s favour. Vos’ 250+ pro wins (vs Koch’s three), her formidable sprint, and her pedigree as a world and Olympic champion on the track gave the Dutchwoman a clear edge.
But Koch is no stranger to a velodrome either. She also played the sprint perfectly, taking the right lines at the right times. Most importantly, she was just stronger.
Did we do a good job with this story?