“I could have achieved the dream of every cyclist”
April 7 th 2026 - 14:25
ONE COBBLESTONE AWAY
Winning the Queen of the Classics is a lifelong dream for every ‘flandrien’, Belgian or not, as well as for every cycling champion who looks up to Paris-Roubaix Hauts-de-France and its prestige. Yet the legend of the Hell of the North is defined by more riders than the 95 victors (90 men, 5 women) in its palmarès. There is a long list of first-class cyclists who have tried to conquer this race time and again, only to fall short by a mere, untimely flat - or by a wrong pull of the brakes. What kept Adrie van der Poel away from winning at the Velodrome where his younger son has triumphed for three consecutive years? What was missing for Juan Antonio Flecha, the Latino who has excelled the most in this race, to score a historic victory? Why hasn’t Marianne Vos brought a cobble home, she who has collected trophies all over the world? Are podium memories a dream or a nightmare for Zdenek Stybar, Steve Bauer or Lorena Wiebes? These are fascinating questions, and you’ll find the answers in this new six-part interview series, from now until April 12.
“I could have achieved the dream of every cyclist”
Many riders say that "the Hell of the North" bears no secrets. That this race, like every other, is all about power, skills, tactics, and luck. Zdenek Stybar says it, too. Yet, when he dives a bit deeper into his experience in the race, it’s easy to perceive the many complexities of this event where every cobble can make or break a champion. Back when he was a late-teenager and one of the best up-and-coming cyclo-cross specialists in the world, the Czech rider was captivated by the mythology of the ‘Holy Week’ - those 10 days during which the two cobbled Monuments, the Tour of Flanders and the Queen of the Classics, are held. “I was in Belgium and there were cycling-themed cakes at every bakery,” he recalls. “That’s when I first got the feeling I wanted to be a part of that.” A part he was, and a part he played with six top-10 finishes in Paris-Roubaix that include two podium finishes - one a rewarding satisfaction, the other a painful disappointment.
Zdenek Stybar
Born on 11 December 1985 in Plana U Marianskych (Czech Republic).
Teams :
Quick-Step (2011-2022, under different denominations like Omega Pharma, Etixx or Deceuninck), Jayco AlUla (2023).
Major victories:
UCI Cyclo-Cross World Championship 2010, 2011, 2014 ; Stage 7 La Vuelta 2013 (Mairena del Aljarafe) ; Strade Bianche 2015 ; Stage 6 Tour de France 2015 (Le Havre) ; Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2019 ; E3 Harelbeke 2019
Results:
2013 : 6th / 2014 : 5th / 2015 : 2nd / 2016 : 110th / 2017 : 2nd / 2018 : 9th / 2019 : 8th / 2021 : 26th / 2022 : 45th / 2023 : 79th
Distinctive feature: At the age of 27, after several years of being a dominant force in cyclo-cross, Zdenek Stybar switched to road cycling at a time when CX specialists hardly ever competed in Monuments or Grand Tours, arguably paving the way for versatile talents like Wout van Aert, Mathieu Van der Poel, Tom Pidcock or Thibau Nys to excel both on mud and on asphalt. He quickly became one of the best Classics specialists of the moment, landing a number of results that put him on the virtual podium of best Czech road cyclists in history, alongside prolific sprinter Jan Svorada and consistent stage-racer Roman Kreuziger. Nowadays, Stybar lives up to his status as a cycling role model in his country by managing the Czech Cycling Academy, a talent scouting and development program
A HIGH-LEVEL DEBUT… BUT A FRUSTRATING ONE
Stybar spent the best part of his professional road cycling career at Quick-Step, a Belgian team that has conquered Paris-Roubaix as many as eight times under its different incarnations. This was instrumental to put him on a “Classics mindset,” and set him off to a good start as he was able to finish 6th in his debut at this race (2013) with just one full road season in his legs. “Before my first Roubaix, our DS Tom Steels sent us videos of all the cobbled sectors,” the Czech rider recalls. “I watched them many times to memorize every detail of the sectors, and every entry into them. From the very first time I was at ease on the cobblestones because of my cyclocross background, which helped me choose the best possible line at every moment. I used to be pretty relaxed on the cobbles, as if I had the situation under control.” In the final meters of the Carrefour de l’Arbre, Stybar was on the wheel of the eventual winner, Fabian Cancellara, when he touched a fan who was standing on the roadside. Despite avoiding a crash, he fell out of contention. “Without that incident, I could have finished inside the top three,” he regrets.
2017, SO CLOSE TO VICTORY
The Czech rider would climb onto the podium twice in his career. The first one, in 2015, came with no ‘ifs’: John Degenkolb was head and shoulders above him, and their five other breakaway companions, at the Velodrome André Pétrieux. Two years later, though, he suffered a bitter defeat to Greg van Avermaet. It was the final Roubaix for Tom Boonen, and the whole Quick-Step team was backing him for a fairytale victory. “I spent a lot of energy closing gaps that day. I only stayed with the front group in the final because Tom didn’t make the cut and I had to sit on the wheel of the other breakaway riders,” Stybar recalls. It was with five kilometers to go that he got told to race for himself from the team car. After launching an unsuccessful attack that was quickly shut down by Van Avermaet and fellow escapee Sep Vanmarcke, Stybar decided to wait for the sprint. With 50 meters to go, he was well ahead of the Belgian rider - yet Van Avermaet overtook him just in time to throw his hands in the air. “When I look at that sprint, I couldn’t have done it better. It was one of the best sprints of my life.” Why did Stybar lose, then? “Because of an idea I gave to Specialized, we were racing that year on bikes with suspensions that couldn’t be locked. When I saw the sprint in slow motion, I looked at my handlebar and it was going up and down, as if I was sprinting on a mountain bike. I don’t regret using that bike because it did an excellent job on the cobbles, but it ultimately was the reason why I didn’t win the race »
DOES IT HURT TO BE THE RUNNER-UP ?
“I was on my way to winning Roubaix in 2017,” Stybar mourns. “2015 was a different story. I was super happy that I was on the podium of a Monument like Roubaix, with all its myths, its history, and its challenges. My second podium, though, was hard to swallow. I really struggled to accept my defeat, because I was super disappointed.” The Czech rider believes it could have changed his career. “In the heat of the race, finishing first or second doesn’t change much. But, at the end of the day, my palmarès would be different and I would have achieved the dream of every cyclist. Yet it wouldn’t have changed the person I am"
WHEN YOUT FRIENDS BECOME YOUR ENEMIES
The tactical nuances of Paris-Roubaix Hauts-de-France are so numerous and intricate that the strength of your own team can play against you sometimes. As a member of one of the most Classics-devoted squads in the bunch, Stybar was able to celebrate triumphs by two teammates: Niki Terpstra (2014) and Philippe Gilbert (2019). “When Niki won, I didn’t feel I was part of the victory,” he says. “It was three of us in the front group with 10 km to go - Niki, Tom, and myself. The team told us on the radio to have a go, and Niki immediately grabbed the chance. He was gone before I could even process the message. When Philippe won, it was a real team victory - we really worked for him throughout the day and later helped him by blocking the attacks in the group behind. Niki’s win didn't feel the same.” By his own admission, many people have asked Stybar why he didn’t move teams earlier in his career in order to be the sole leader. “It’s true that, at Quick-Step, we often had several guys in the Roubaix line-up who could target the win. Yet I think I wouldn’t have won 70 races per year in a different team. We had a solid card to play in every race we entered. Maybe I could have won a few more races for myself, but nothing beats feeling able to win every day with the team. That is something you cannot buy."
THE RACE WITH A MILLION SCENARIOS
Despite asserting that the race holds “no secrets,” Stybar gives away a number of interesting keys to understanding the race. “The general rule is: the faster you go, the better the cobbles feel. It’s also true that the material has evolved a lot in recent years, and this makes a huge difference. In any case, I believe it’s actually the approach into every cobble sector that makes the race so hard.” Yet you don’t have to wait for the cobblestones in order to impact the final outcome of the race. “In Roubaix, the first hundred kilometres can already be decisive. Some years we have had echelons just 30 or 40 kilometers into the race, with 220 to go! This can influence the race so much, and you can hardly predict it in advance. There are a million possible scenarios.” Like many riders of his kind, Stybar is quick to point out Arenberg as the sector he hated the most: “How you get out of that sector really is a matter of luck”. On the other hand, the Carrefour de l’Arbre is a sector he dearly appreciated: “The atmosphere there is amazing. Once you exit, the worst is behind you and you have nearly 20 kilometres to figure out how to win the race."
