A John Thomson Classic Photo Gallery: We are right in the middle of the Classics season and John Thomson, our man with his camera, has sent us through his first batch of top photos from the roadside of Flanders and Roubaix – An ‘unforgettable trip’.
*** You can see the full archive of John Thomson’s photo galleries HERE. ***
John Thomson: “This is part one of my three part “2026 Holy Week Photo Gallery.” An unforgettable trip to Belgium and France for me. Not just witnessing a great edition of Paris-Roubaix, but successfully chasing down a thief in Belgium who grabbed my backpack with all of my camera equipment and ran off the train when it made a stop in Tourcoing.
The 110th Tour of Flanders on the Oude Kwaremont, the 114th Scheldprijs on the finish line in Schoten, the 123rd Paris-Roubaix on the Carrefour de l’Arbre, beers, food, fans, fine art, vintage magazine scans, a few Paris glam shots from my files and some other very miscellaneous pictures from my trip and archives. Happy Holy Week!”
110th Ronde van Vlaanderen
Tadej Pogačar wins his third Tour of Flanders
Only one cycling legend immediately came to mind when I saw this t-shirt
Seven consecutive podiums at Flanders for MvdP
Classic Poulidor
A 5th place here at Flanders and a 7th place at Paris-Roubaix for Mads Pedersen. An epic return to racing after his early season crash
A top week for Holy Mads
2nd at Flanders in 2018 for Mads Pedersen
Grimbergen Ambrée
Demi in Kortrijk on the day before the Tour of Flanders
Demi Vollering winning solo at the Tour of Flanders Women
Lidl-Trek women on a training ride outside of Bruges
A fine 3rd place for Puck Pieterse in the Tour of Flanders Women
I had to include a better shot of Puck
Castle Loppem in Zedelgem, near Bruges
Tadej Pogačar and Wout van Aert on the second time up the Oude Kwaremont
Newspapers the day after the Ronde. Photos: Nieuwsblad/Het Laatste Nieuws
Remco had a top Ronde
A little bit of rain on the Oude Kwaremont but the fans came prepared
Mathieu on the first time up the Oude Kwaremont
The fans were all in a good mood on Easter Sunday
Czech champion Mathias Vacek at the Tour of Flanders
A fine six or seven beer cartwheel
Laurence Pithie here at Flanders rode a strong Paris-Roubaix but then had a bit of bad luck on the cobbles
Flemish Lion
Charly Gaul won the 1958 Tour de France and was also a national cyclo-cross champion for Luxembourg
Flying the flag for Pogi on the Oude Kwaremont
A bit of rain and a few beers makes for slippery conditions on the Oude Kwaremont
A big win at the 2026 Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne for Matthew Brennan, here on the Oude Kwaremont
You don’t buy beer, you rent it, on the Oude Kwaremont
Eddy Merckx and Ferdinand Bracke won the Trofeo Baracchi two-up time trial in 1966 and 1967
Valentin Petillon at the Paris-Roubaix Juniors
Elias Wändel hit the cobbles at the Paris-Roubaix Juniors
Mauro Cuylits at the U23 Paris-Roubaix
Burger in Lille
European U19 road race champion Karl Herzog finished 2nd at the Paris-Roubaix Juniors
Paris glam at Miu Miu
In 1965 Jacques Anquetil won the eight-day Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré and then, just hours later, won the grueling 560 km Bordeaux-Paris
Definitely Not Mathieu and Wout! Mathieu showed great sportsmanship congratulating Wout after his win at Paris-Roubaix
A strong 7th here at Flanders but forced to abandon after a heavy crash in the Trouée d’Arenberg at Paris-Roubaix for the world gravel champion Florian Vermeersch
Pogi and Wout on the first time up the Oude Kwaremont
Delicious dried fish for sale in Kortrijk
Pogi on the way to his 3rd Ronde win
Australian National Road Race Champion Mackenzie Coupland at the Tour of Flanders Women
Father George had 17 career starts in Paris-Roubaix including a 2nd place finish in 2005. Enzo Hincapie here getting 6th place in the Paris-Roubaix Juniors
Julius Løvstrup Birkedal getting 4th place at the Paris-Roubaix Juniors
A big thanks to Jens for feeding me at Flanders after my regular sandwich shop was closed on Easter Sunday morning
Mick van Dijke got a fine 7th at Paris-Roubaix. Here at the Tour of Flanders
Thijs Wiersma won the Paris-Roubaix Juniors
Beautiful Lille
American Artem Shmidt at the Tour of Flanders
A 6th here at Flanders and 3rd at Paris-Roubaix. A top Holy Week for Jasper Stuyven
“Dans L’Atelier, La Pose du Modèle.” by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp
A 21st place here at Flanders and 13th place at Paris-Roubaix for Lewis Askey
Multi US Criterium Champion Luke Lamperti at the Tour of Flanders
A 14th place finish for Letizia Paternoster at the Tour of Flanders Women
Marwan Barhoumi at the Paris-Roubaix Juniors
Jacque Anquetil having a wheel change at Paris-Roubaix
Wout riding his 2nd Paris-Roubaix in 2019
“I did stop believing a lot of times but the next day I woke up and fought for it again” – Wout van Aert at Paris-Roubaix
Not a dry eye in the house when Wout dedicated his win to Michael Goolaerts. Photo: Étienne Garnier/L’Équipe
Philippe Gilbert was the last Belgian winner of Paris-Roubaix in 2019
Remco Evenepoel riding the Tour of Flanders was great for cycling
Jacqueline Bisset in François Truffaut’s “Day for Night” (1973) in flight
*** Stay PEZ for John Thomson’s next ‘Photo Gallery’ coming soon. ***
The post John’s 2026 Holy Week Photo Gallery Part 1 appeared first on PezCycling News.
