The 5 Monuments of Professional Cycling: history, winners, records and 2026 favorites

What is a Monument in cycling?

The five Monuments are:

• Milan-San Remo (March)
• Tour of Flanders (April)
• Paris-Roubaix (April)
• Liège-Bastogne-Liège (April)
• Il Lombardia (October)

These races are contested over a single day, but their prestige is immense. They stand out because of their age, difficulty, historical aura, and the quality of the champions who have won them.

1. Milan-San Remo

Nicknamed La Primavera, Milan-San Remo traditionally opens the Monument season. It is also one of the longest races on the professional calendar, at nearly 300 kilometers.

• Created: 1907
• Country: Italy
• Profile: long race, hilly in the final part
• Key points: Cipressa, Poggio di San Remo

At first glance, it seems to favor resilient sprinters. In reality, its nervous and tactical finale also allows puncheurs and attackers to shine. Milan-San Remo is famous for its often unpredictable scenarios.

2. Tour of Flanders

The Ronde van Vlaanderen is an institution in Belgium. It is the great celebration of Flemish cycling, driven by a unique popular fervor and its famous cobbled climbs.

• Created: 1913
• Country: Belgium
• Profile: nervous race with short, steep climbs
• Key points: Oude Kwaremont, Paterberg, Koppenberg

The Tour of Flanders demands power, explosiveness, positioning, and endurance. The best Classics specialists shine there thanks to their ability to handle repeated changes of pace on the cobbled climbs.

3. Paris-Roubaix

Paris-Roubaix is arguably the most mythical of them all. Known as The Hell of the North, it stands out for its often decisive cobbled sectors, extreme brutality, and unforgiving nature.

• Created: 1896
• Country: France
• Profile: flat race but extremely punishing
• Key points: Trouée d’Arenberg, Mons-en-Pévèle, Carrefour de l’Arbre

Victory rewards strength as much as endurance, technique, and sometimes mechanical luck. Paris-Roubaix is a race apart, capable of breaking legs, bikes, and the best-laid strategies.

4. Liège-Bastogne-Liège

The oldest of the five Monuments, Liège-Bastogne-Liège is often called La Doyenne. It is the Classic for climber-puncheurs, built on endurance and the accumulation of Ardennes climbs.

• Created: 1892
• Country: Belgium
• Profile: hilly to mountainous
• Key points: Côte de La Redoute, Roche-aux-Faucons

Less chaotic than Paris-Roubaix, but just as demanding, Liège-Bastogne-Liège often crowns complete riders capable of making the difference on a steep climb after more than 250 kilometers of effort.

5. Il Lombardia

The final Monument of the season, Il Lombardia is nicknamed the Race of the Falling Leaves. Its autumn atmosphere and challenging course give it a very distinctive identity.

• Created: 1905
• Country: Italy
• Profile: hilly to mountainous race
• Key points: Madonna del Ghisallo, Civiglio, San Fermo della Battaglia

The route of Il Lombardia generally favors climbers, puncheurs, and attacking riders. It is a spectacular race, often won by champions who are also capable of excelling in Grand Tours.

Comparison of the 5 Monuments

These five races do not require the same qualities:

• Milan-San Remo favors fast and tactical riders.
• Tour of Flanders highlights power and the ability to repeat explosive efforts.
• Paris-Roubaix demands toughness, technique, and extreme endurance.
• Liège-Bastogne-Liège rewards the most durable puncheur-climbers.
• Il Lombardia often suits attacking climbers and riders with great endurance.

Winning all five Monuments is an exceptionally rare achievement. Very few riders in history have managed to win on several of these very different terrains.

Top 3 Monuments in history

The table below presents the most successful riders in each of the five Monuments across the entire history of the race. When several riders are tied, they are listed as joint leaders.

Records by race and greatest Monument collectors

Beyond recent results, each Monument has its own historical benchmarks. Some records have stood for decades, while others have recently been matched or threatened by the current generation.

Winners of the 5 Monuments by year since 1980

The table below summarizes the winners of the five great Monuments since 1980. For 2026, the races not yet contested at the time of the update are marked with a dash.

2026 Monuments: spring recap and remaining favorites

By the end of the spring Classics, Tadej Pogačar is completely dominating the 2026 Monument season. The Slovenian has won, in succession, Milan-San Remo (his first ever victory in La Primavera), the Tour of Flanders, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, where he beat young French sensation Paul Seixas and Remco Evenepoel on April 26. Only Paris-Roubaix escaped him, with Wout van Aert winning the Hell of the North ahead of a Pogačar once again denied on the cobbles. With these three successes, the world champion now has 13 Monuments to his name and is steadily closing the gap on Eddy Merckx’s all-time record of 19.

The autumn appointment is Il Lombardia, scheduled for October. Pogačar, already a five-time consecutive winner and joint record holder with Fausto Coppi, will be the overwhelming favorite for a possible sixth victory that would make him the outright record holder of the Race of the Falling Leaves. His main designated rivals are Remco Evenepoel, who should ramp up after the Grand Tours, along with attacking climbers such as Paul Seixas, Juan Ayuso and Isaac del Toro, who could capitalize if the Slovenian shows any sign of weakness.

Conclusion

The 5 Monuments of professional cycling are the jewels of the Classics calendar. Each tells a different story: the length of Milan-San Remo, the climbs of the Tour of Flanders, the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix, the hills of Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and the autumn elegance of Il Lombardia.

For riders, winning a Monument means entering another dimension. For fans, these are unmissable events, full of tradition, drama, and memorable exploits.

In short, understanding the Monuments means understanding an essential part of the soul of cycling.