Cycling monument First appeared in Ce soir newspaper by Albert Baker d'Isy Information Published 17 April 1949 Origin France Newspaper Ce soir Author Albert Baker d'Isy Race Paris–Roubaix Article Paris-Roubaix "monument" du cyclisme The Monuments are five classic cycle races generally considered to be the oldest, hardest, longest and most prestigious one-day events in men's road cycling, with distances between . , all monuments except Giro di Lombardia hold women's races as part of the UCI Women's World Tour.
Each has a long history and varied characteristics. They are the one-day races in which most points can be earned in the UCI World Tour and the only 3rd categorized UCI races, behind only Grand Tour races: Tour de France (1st category) and Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España (both 2nd category).
With 19 wins, Eddy Merckx is by far the most successful monument rider. He won three monuments in a single season in 1969, 1971, 1972 and 1975. Tadej Pogačar is the only other rider to achieve the feat, doing so in 2025 and 2026.
List of monuments
Race Location Month Since Features Milan–San Remo Northern Italy March 1907 Mostly flat Tour of Flanders Belgium April 1913 Hills and cobbles Paris–Roubaix Northern France April 1896 Cobbles Liège–Bastogne–Liège Belgium April 1892 Hilly Giro di Lombardia Northern Italy October 1905 Hilly
The five monuments are: Milan–San Remo: also called La Primavera (the spring classic) or La Classicissima (the classic of classics). Held in March, it is the first major classic of the season. First held in 1907, it is by far the longest one-day race on the UCI calendar at nearly . Due to its flat profile, it is considered a sprinter's classic, but the famous finishing climbs of the Cipressa and the Poggio give other types of cyclists a chance to win. It is often described as "the easiest Monument to finish, but the hardest to win". Tour of Flanders: the Ronde van Vlaanderen in Dutch, or simply De Ronde ("the Tour"), is raced on the first Sunday in April. First held in 1913, the race typically covers more than in the Flemish Ardennes and is known for its short, steep hills and cobbled sections. The course shifts from year to year, with the start switching between Antwerp and Bruges in recent years. A key point is the Oude Kwaremont, the longest climb of the race at long with a max gradient of 11%. Paris–Roubaix: also called "the Queen of the Classics" or "the Hell of the North", it is raced in April one week after the Tour of Flanders and is the final cobbled classic. First organized in 1896, the race started in Paris up to 1967, before switching to the current start in Compiègne, and is approximately 260 km. The race is known for its long sections of pavé (cobblestone roads), with 30 cobbled sectors totaling over , including the difficult Trouée d'Arenberg before finishing in the Roubaix Velodrome. It is considered the toughest monument, as well as "arguably the most recognizable" one-day race on the cycling calendar. Liège–Bastogne–Liège: known as La Doyenne ("the old lady" or "the oldest"), it is the final Ardennes classic, usually held in late April as the last of the spring one-day races. First organized in 1892, it is the oldest monument. The course is considered a "war of attrition" due to its difficult hilly terrain, favouring climbers or even Grand Tour specialists. Giro di Lombardia: also called the classica delle foglie morte ("race of the falling leaves"), it is the final monument of the season, usually held in October. First held in 1905, it was initially organized as Milano–Milano. The course switches between starting and finishing in Como and Bergamo, and is known for its hilly terrain around Lake Como. Similar to Liège–Bastogne–Liège, it is considered a climber's classic, ascending difficult hills such as Madonna del Ghisallo.
Origin The expression "cycling monument" has been used since the early days of cycle racing. In 1904, Henri Desgrange wrote in L'Auto that "The "Tour de France" is over and its second edition will, I fear, have also been the last. [...] And yet, it seemed to us and it still seems to us that we had built with this great event the most lasting and most imposing monument to the sport of cycling".
In 1949, French sports journalist Albert Baker d'Isy wrote about the 47th edition of the Paris–Roubaix race, titling his article in the French newspaper Ce soir "Paris–Roubaix: "monument" du cyclisme". The term was used again by journalist Jacques Goddet in 1950, writing about Fausto Coppi's victory at Paris–Roubaix – "Monument of international cycling, Paris-Roubaix crushed the riders with its legend as well as its diabolical difficulties".
When the Super Prestige Pernod had to be abandoned at the end of 1987, Hein Verbruggen (president of the FICP) went on to create a new competition (which became the UCI Road World Cup), where five races were given a fixed position under the name 'cycling monument', and these were the five races still known as monuments.
The term began being used more by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and cycling media at the end of the 20th century, with the term designating the five most prestigious classic cycle races, namely Milan–San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris–Roubaix, Liège–Bastogne–Liège and Giro di Lombardia.
Since 2010, the races are considered by the Union Cycliste Internationale to be more prestigious than other one-day races that are raced by the professional peloton, with only the Grand Tour stage races gaining more ranking points for the winner.
In 2017, L'Équipe wrote that the five monuments were "the oldest one-day races, the most famous, the most unique" and that they had "prestigious entry fields" of champion riders.
Future monuments Media and riders have discussed whether other classic cycling races meet the criteria of a cycling monument. By the 2020s, Strade Bianche – an Italian one-day race first held in 2007, defined by its use of white gravel roads – was considered to be the most likely candidate, with Cycling News stating in 2025 that "there is no longer any debate that Strade Bianche is cycling's sixth Monument". However, others have criticised that Strade Bianche does not have the length or longevity to be titled a monument, and rider Philippe Gilbert noted that Clásica de San Sebastián and Amstel Gold Race were more important historically.
In the women's tour, media have suggested that Trofeo Alfredo Binda-Comune di Cittiglio (the oldest one-day race on the women's calendar) and Strade Bianche Donne may be worthy of the "monument" moniker.
Monuments winners
Year Milan–San Remo Tour of Flanders Paris–Roubaix Liège–Bastogne–Liège Giro di Lombardia1892Not contestedNot contestedNot contested (1/3)Not contested1893 (2/3)1894 (3/3)1895Not contested1896 1897 (1/2)1898 (2/2)1899 1900 1901 (1/2)1902 (2/2)1903 (1/2)1904 (2/2)1905 1906 1907 (1/2)1908 (1/2) (2/2) (1/2)1909 (1/3) 1910 (2/3)Not contested 1911 (2/2) (3/3) (1/6)1912 (2/6) (1/2) 1913 (1/2) (2/2) (3/6)1914 (2/2)Not contested 1915 Not contestedNot contested (1/5)1916Not contested 1917 (2/5) 1918 (1/9) (3/5)1919 (4/6) (1/2) (2/9)1920 (4/5) (1/2) (2/2) (5/6)1921 (3/9) (1/3) (6/6) (1/2) (4/9)1922 (1/3) (2/2) (2/2) (5/9)1923 (6/9) (1/2) (2/2) (2/3) (2/3)1924 (1/2) (2/2) (3/3) (3/3)1925 (7/9) (1/2) (1/2) (1/6)1926 (8/9) (2/2) (2/6)1927 (2/2) (2/2) (3/6)1928 (9/9) (5/5)1929 (4/6) (1/4) 1930 (1/2) (2/2)1931 (5/6) (1/3) (1/4) (2/4) (6/6)1932 (2/3) (3/3) 1933 (1/2) (3/4) 1934 (2/4) (3/4) (2/2)1935 (1/2) (4/4) (4/4) 1936 (1/7)1937 (1/2)1938 (2/2) (1/2)1939 (2/7) (3/7)1940 (4/7) (1/3)Not contestedNot contested (5/7)1941 (2/3) (1/2)1942 (1/2) (2/2)1943 (2/2) (3/3) (1/2)Not contested1944Not contested (1/5) Not contested1945 (2/2)1946 (1/9) (2/5) (1/2) (1/2) (2/9)1947 (6/7) (2/2) (2/2) (3/9)1948 (4/9) (2/2) (3/5) (5/9)1949 (6/9) (1/3) (7/9)1950 (7/7) (2/3) (8/9) (2/2) 1951 (1/4) (3/3) (1/2) (2/4)1952 (1/2) (4/5) (2/2) 1953 (2/2) (1/4) 1954 (5/5) (1/2) (2/2) (9/9)1955 (2/4) (3/4) (1/2) 1956 (1/6) (2/2) (4/4) (2/6) 1957 (1/2) (3/6) (4/6) (3/4) 1958 (1/8) (4/4) (5/6) 1959 (2/2) (2/8) (1/2) (6/6) (3/8)1960 (1/3)1961 (1/3) (4/8) (5/8) 1962 (2/3) (6/8) (7/8) (1/3)1963 (2/2) (3/3) (2/3)1964 (2/3) (1/2) 1965 (3/3) (8/8) (3/3)1966 (1/19) (1/4) (2/4)1967 (2/19) (1/4) (1/2)1968 (2/2) (2/4) (3/19) 1969 (4/19) (5/19) (3/4) (6/19) 1970 (1/3) (7/19) (1/11) (2/2)1971 (8/19) (9/19) (10/19)1972 (11/19) (2/3) (2/11) (12/19) (13/19)1973 (3/11) (3/3) (14/19) (15/19) (3/4)1974 (4/4) (4/11) (5/11)1975 (16/19) (17/19) (6/11) (18/19) (1/6)1976 (19/19) (1/2) (7/11)1977 (1/4) (8/11) (9/11) (1/5) (1/2)1978 (10/11) (4/4) (2/6) (2/2) (3/6)1979 (11/11) (2/4) (4/6) (2/5) 1980 (5/6) (3/5) (1/2) 1981 (2/2) (1/4) (4/5) (2/4) 1982 (3/4) (1/2) 1983 (2/2) (4/4) (3/4) (1/9) 1984 (6/6) (2/9) (3/9) (5/5) 1985 (4/4) (1/2) (1/2) (1/6) (4/9) 1986 (5/9) (1/2) (6/9) (2/6) (2/2) 1987 (2/2) (3/6) (4/6) 1988 (1/2) (1/2) (2/2) 1989 (2/2) (1/2) (7/9) (1/2) 1990 (1/2) (5/6) (2/2) 1991 (2/2) (2/2) (6/6) (8/9) 1992 (9/9) (1/2) (2/2) 1993 (1/6) (2/2) (1/2) (1/2) 1994 (2/2) (1/3) 1995 (1/2) (2/6) (1/2) 1996 (1/5) (3/6) (2/2) (1/3) 1997 (1/4) (2/2) (2/5) (2/2) 1998 (2/4) (4/6) (2/2) (3/5) (1/2) 1999 (2/3) (1/3) (2/3) 2000 (3/4) (3/3) (5/6) (1/5) 2001 (4/4) (2/2) (1/2) 2002 (3/3) (6/6) (2/5) (4/5) 2003 (3/5) (2/3) (3/3) (5/5) 2004 (1/3) (1/3) 2005 (1/7) (2/7) (1/2) (4/5) 2006 (3/7) (1/7) (1/4) (5/5) 2007 (2/3) (2/2) (2/3) 2008 (2/7) (1/2) (4/7) (2/4) (3/3) 2009 (2/2) (5/7) (1/5) 2010 (3/3) (3/7) (4/7) (2/2) (2/5) 2011 (3/5) 2012 (1/2) (6/7) (7/7) (1/2) 2013 (5/7) (6/7) (1/2) (2/2) 2014 (1/2) (7/7) (1/2) (2/2) (2/2) 2015 (1/2) (2/2) (2/2) (3/4) (1/3) 2016 (1/2) 2017 (4/5) (4/4) (2/3) 2018 (3/3) (2/2) (2/2) 2019 (5/5) (1/2) 2020 (1/2) (1/8)Not contested (2/2) 2021 (1/13) (2/13) 2022 (2/8) (1/2) (3/13) 2023 (3/8) (4/13) (4/8) (2/2) (5/13) 2024 (5/8) (6/8) (6/13) (7/13) 2025 (7/8) (8/13) (8/8) (9/13) (10/13) 2026 (11/13) (12/13) (2/2) (13/13) TBD
Statistics Most monuments wins
Only three riders have won all five monument races during their careers: Rik Van Looy, Eddy Merckx, and Roger De Vlaeminck, all three Belgians, and only Eddy Merckx won each of them more than once.
Seven riders won four different monuments. With multiple victories in all the other monuments, Sean Kelly almost joined the top group, finishing second in the Tour of Flanders on three occasions (1984, 1986 and 1987). Kelly is the only other rider, after Merckx, to win four different monuments on multiple occasions. Dutch rider Hennie Kuiper won each monument except Liège–Bastogne–Liège, in which he finished second in 1980. Frenchman Louison Bobet also won all but Liège–Bastogne–Liège. Belgian rider Fred De Bruyne came close as well, finishing second in the Giro di Lombardia in 1955 and winning the other four races during his career. Germain Derycke also won four, all except the Giro di Lombardia. Belgian Phillipe Gilbert won all except Milan-San Remo, in which he finished third on two occasions. Tadej Pogačar is the most recent rider to win four different monuments, all except Paris-Roubaix, in which he finished second in 2025 and 2026.
Tadej Pogačar is the first rider to achieve a podium finish in all 5 monuments in the same season in 2025: M-R(3rd), ToF(1st), P-R(2nd), L-B-L(1st), GdL(1st). This streak also means he has the most consecutive monument podiums with 11 in a row, when 2024: L-B-L(1st), GdL(1st), and 2026: M-R(1st), ToF(1st), P-R(2nd), L-B-L(1st) are included. He is also the first one winning 4 monuments in a row, from L-B-L in 2025 to ToF in 2026.
Tadej Pogačar is also the first rider ever to win the same monument 5 years in a row with his winning streak at Giro di Lombardia going from 2021 to 2025, eclipsing the previous record held by Fausto Coppi since 1949 in the same race. Eddy Merckx holds the record of most victories in a single Monument, winning Milan-San Remo seven times.