The 2006 Paris–Roubaix was the 104th running of the Paris–Roubaix single-day cycling race, often known as the Hell of the North. It was held on 9 April 2006 over a distance of 259 kilometres. Fabian Cancellara became the second road racing cyclist from Switzerland to win the race. This edition was run under clear skies and relatively good weather, meaning that the difficulty of this edition was the dust. The main favourite for the race was Tom Boonen, winner of the 2005 Paris–Roubaix and the 2006 Tour of Flanders.

Fabian Cancellara, nicknamed "Spartacus", is a Swiss cycling executive, businessman and former professional road racing cyclist who last rode for UCI ProTeam Lidl–Trek. He was born in Wohlen bei Bern, Switzerland. Cancellara began road cycling after falling in love with an old bike at the age of thirteen. After that, he began to take the sport more seriously and won two consecutive World Junior Time Trial Championships in 1998 and 1999. At age nineteen he turned professional and signed with the Mapei–Quick-Step team, where he rode as a stagiaire. He is known for being a quality time trialist, a one-day classics specialist, and a workhorse for his teammates who have general classification aspirations.