Van der Poel Wins Electrifying and Brutal Paris-Roubaix

Ironically, it was the course itself that helped him defeat world champion Tadej Pogačar in what had turned into a thrilling mano a mano between the two best riders in the world. With 38 km left to ride, on one of the 30 cobblestone sections on the 259.2 km course, the UAE Team Emirates–XRG leader accelerated and again tried to distance the defending champion. But he took a muddy turn too fast and crashed. When he remounted, he had lost 20 seconds to his rival and would not get close to him again until the two shook hands after the finish.

“I saw the motorbikes, I think they were standing in the corner,” the Slovenian said after the race. “I was watching them and in my head they were going straight, but nobody was turning, so I came to the corner going really, really fast. There was a tailwind, I was attacking and we were going all-out. So yeah, it was just too fast.”

The gap at the end was 1:18, as both Pogačar and van der Poel punctured on the pitiless cobbles and had to change bikes. Co-favorites Mads Pedersen and Wout van Aert finished third and fourth respectively, 2:11 behind, though the Dane has plenty of reason to regret it. He punctured with 71 km left to ride, just as Pogačar accelerated for the first time on yet another cobblestone section and kicked off the electrifying endgame. By the time a team car reached him to give him another bike, his quest for victory was over.

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Van Aert never seemed to be in the race. He was often out of position in the back of the peloton, was caught out by one of the many crashes that occurred in the race and was quickly dropped when Pogačar, van der Poel and three other riders took off. But he seemed to get a second wind and eventually lost a sprint to Pedersen for a place on the podium. However, he admitted that it was not his day and that he had already felt that with about 100 km left to race, on the infamous Trench of Arenberg cobbled section.

“I’m left with kind of a strange feeling,” van Aert said at the finish. “In the Arenberg, I just didn’t have the legs; I couldn’t push through. I don’t know what it was. At that point, I didn’t think I’d be part of the finale. But after that, I felt better. The aim was, of course, to achieve more, but I think I finished where I belonged in both races,” referring to this race and the Tour of Flanders, where he also finished fourth.

I think it’s time for van Aert and his team to admit to themselves that either he will need more time to recover from the devastating knee injury he suffered in last year’s Vuelta or that his best days are behind him.

As for the delighted van der Poel, he said he had no regrets from racing on after his rival had crashed. “It’s such a hard race and I was really suffering. Too bad Tadej made this mistake on a corner. But then I just had to go for it, and it was still quite far from the finish. It was really hard, especially with the last two [cobbled] sectors with the headwind. I was really struggling, but I’m happy to make it to the finish line.”

He went on to say that at the time of the crash “the speed was superhigh and I think he misjudged the turn a bit. I was just quick enough to save it, and then I don’t know what happened afterwards, because I had quite a big gap, but I had to go for it. That’s part of racing.”

He and his team were remarkably cool when he punctured on the brutal Carrefour de l’Arbre cobblestone sector, losing only about 10 seconds to the pursuing Pogačar. “I didn’t know the time gap, because my radio didn’t work, so I couldn’t ask for it or say I had a flat tire. It took a while ’til the car was there, but it all worked out in the end.”

Pogačar and that puncture were not the only challenges he had to face. As he was riding on his own on a cobbled section with 33 km left to race, van der Poel was hit in the face by a drinks bottle thrown by a spectator. He seemed to lose a bit of balance, but soon rode away to victory. Naturally, he was livid afterwards.

“This is attempted manslaughter!” he said. “It was a full bottle, and it really hurt. If it had hit my nose, it would’ve broken it. Hopefully we can identify the person. I think there should be a trial — this was a direct hit to my face.” Van der Poel has already been a target at cyclocross races of thuggish and cowardly spectators who apparently see themselves as losers and are intimidated by self-confident superstars.

As for Pogačar, despite losing, he polished his already brilliant reputation with his superb performance on a course that does not suit his skills, as he himself has said. First of all, he has now been on the podiums in all five Monuments. The only other rider to do that in recent years was Philippe Gilbert. But he was quick to praise the winner.

“He’s a great champion and one of the best riders in the world. To race against him is a big honor,” Pogačar said. “I always say, if I was a kid racing now, he would be my idol, so to race against him gives me some extra motivation.”

He then went on to praise the course, in a way. “You think it’s an all-flat race, but in terms of power I think it’s the hardest race I’ve done in my life,” he said. “Plus there was the cobble stress on your body. It was definitely one of the roughest, toughest, hardest races I have done. But I think I gained some experience so that maybe next time I come here it’s not so extreme.”

Of course, he will be back next year to try to stop van der Poel from winning a record fourth Paris-Roubaix in a row. The prospect of another duel like the one we saw Sunday is already making my mouth water.