Pogacar unable to shake off Van Aert on Roubaix cobbles: 'My legs were just like spaghetti'

It was a manic edition of Paris-Roubaix, and Tadej Pogačar’s quest faced an early setback when he suffered an untimely mechanical incident with 120km remaining on sector 22 Quérénaing to Maing. 

It looked initially as though it was a race-defining moment, as the world champion found himself on a neutral service bike and isolated, before some team support arrived and he managed to return to the peloton in the nick of time for the first five-star sector, the hellish Trouée d’Arenberg. 

It would prove to be just one of the many significant mechanical moments that would shape the race, however, Pogačar admitted at the finish that the arduous chase did cost him later in the race. 

“I think, like most of the people today, I had a lot of problems with the punctures. I had three punctures today and three bike changes,” Pogačar told CyclingProNet at the finish. So yeah, it was not ideal, but I had a super strong team to bring me back just before Arenberg.”

Van Aert attacked just before sector 12 Auchy-Lez-Orchies to Bersée. It was a move that only Pogačar could follow, as Mads Pedersen tried but faltered from the wheels of the front duo. At this moment in the race, the earlier chase was playing catch-up in the legs of the World Champion

“But then I was a little bit cooked, and when I was with Wout, there was not much freshness in the legs to really have a chance to drop him on the cobbles,” said Pogačar.

The World Champion did try to distance the Belgian, on Mons-en-Pévéle and Carrefour de l’Arbre, but Van Aert simply wouldn’t budge. 

“When he [Van Aert] first attacked, I still believed that I could maybe counterattack him, but he rode super smart afterwards, and yeah, we shared the work quite well,” said Pogačar.

“But, maybe the cobbles after his attack, like Carrefour, it's really hard, but then the wind is also in the face, and I knew maybe from there that it's going to be like 99% impossible,” added the World Champion.

The race was far from finished, though, as Van Aert and Pogačar would draw an epic edition of Paris-Roubaix to a close with a nail-biting sprint on the Roubaix Velodrome. 

Van Aert launched the sprint early from the wheel of Pogačar. The Slovenian tried to respond, but ultimately had nothing left, meaning Van Aert claimed his first Monument victory since Milan-Sanremo in 2020.

“I still had hope in the sprint, but when I started the sprint, my legs were just like spaghetti,” explained Pogačar.

Van Aert’s last victory came on the final stage of the Tour de France last July on the Champs-Élysées, where he distanced the race leader Pogačar on the slopes of Montmartre. 

“I saw quite fast that it would be mission impossible, and then I gave my best in the sprint, but yeah, he won Champs Élysées in the end, so it’s hard to beat him,” said Pogačar.

Pogačar has now finished in second place in both his participations at Paris-Roubaix, leaving him agonisingly close to completing the Monument set. When asked if this is the hardest Monument for him and if he’ll return next year, Pogačar indicated that he’ll be back for vengeance. 

“Yeah, I cannot say now, but maybe yes,” said Pogačar. “Right now, yeah it seems [the most difficult]. Like two weeks ago, I would say Sanremo, but now coming second again here, it’s still my second time here, so let’s give it time and we’ll see,” concluded Pogačar.