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)
• The Tour of Flanders (April)
• Paris-Roubaix (April)
• Liège-Bastogne-Liège (April)
• Il Lombardia (October)

These races are contested over a single day, yet their prestige is immense. They stand apart for their longevity, their difficulty, their historical aura and the calibre of the champions who have won them.

1. Milan-San Remo

Nicknamed La Primavera (the Spring Classic), Milan-San Remo traditionally opens the Monuments season. It is also one of the longest races on the professional calendar, at close to 300 kilometres.

• First edition: 1907
• Country: Italy
• Profile: long race, hilly in the closing kilometres
• Key points: Cipressa, Poggio di San Remo

On paper it looks suited to resilient sprinters. In reality, its tense, tactical finale also gives puncheurs and attackers their chance to shine. Milan-San Remo is renowned for its often unpredictable scenario.

2. Tour of Flanders

The Ronde van Vlaanderen is an institution in Belgium. It is the great celebration of Flemish cycling, carried by a unique wave of public fervour and by its famous cobbled climbs.

• First edition: 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 stamina all at once. The best classics specialists thrive here thanks to their ability to absorb repeated changes of pace on the cobbled climbs.

3. Paris-Roubaix

Paris-Roubaix is arguably the most legendary of them all. Known as the Hell of the North, it is defined by its often decisive cobbled sectors, its extreme harshness and its merciless character.

• First edition: 1896
• Country: France
• Profile: flat but extraordinarily punishing
• Key points: Trouée d'Arenberg, Mons-en-Pévèle, Carrefour de l'Arbre

Victory here 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 (the Old Lady). It is the classic of climbers and puncheurs, built on endurance and the relentless accumulation of Ardennes climbs.

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

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

5. Il Lombardia

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

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

The Il Lombardia course generally favours climbers, puncheurs and aggressive riders. It is a spectacular race, often won by champions who can also excel in the Grand Tours.

The 5 Monuments compared

These five races do not call for the same qualities:

• Milan-San Remo favours fast, tactically astute riders.
• The Tour of Flanders rewards power and the ability to repeat violent efforts.
• Paris-Roubaix demands robustness, technique and extreme resilience.
• Liège-Bastogne-Liège rewards the most enduring climbing puncheurs.
• Il Lombardia often suits aggressive climbers and long-distance specialists.

Winning all five Monuments is an exceedingly rare feat. Few riders in history have managed to triumph across such different terrains.

Top 3 of each Monument in history

The table below lists the most successful riders on each of the five Monuments across the entire history of the race. Where several riders are level, they are shown as tied.

Records by race and the greatest Monument collectors

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

Winners of the 5 Monuments by year since 1980

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

Season review and 2026 Monument favourites

At the close of the spring classics, Tadej Pogačar has utterly dominated the Monuments season. The Slovenian won, one after another, Milan-San Remo (his first victory in La Primavera), the Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, where he beat the young Frenchman Paul Seixas and Remco Evenepoel on 26 April. Only Paris-Roubaix eluded him, with Wout van Aert winning the Hell of the North ahead of a Pogačar once again beaten on the cobbles. With these three successes, the world champion now has 13 Monuments to his name and is methodically closing in on Eddy Merckx's all-time record (19).

The autumn highlight remains Il Lombardia, scheduled for October. Pogačar, already a five-time consecutive winner and co-holder of the record with Fausto Coppi, will be the overwhelming favourite for a possible 6th victory that would make him the outright record holder of the Race of the Falling Leaves. His main designated rivals are Remco Evenepoel, who will build form after the Grand Tours, along with aggressive climbers such as Paul Seixas, Juan Ayuso and Isaac del Toro, who could capitalise on any off-day from the Slovenian.

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 autumnal elegance of Il Lombardia.

For riders, winning a Monument means stepping into another dimension. For fans, they are unmissable occasions, steeped in tradition, drama and feats of endurance.

In short, to understand the Monuments is to understand an essential part of the soul of cycling.