Van Aert upsets Pogacar’s Monuments mission in wild and thrilling Paris-Roubaix

Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) claimed a dramatic edition of Paris-Roubaix, outsprinting Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) on the Roubaix velodrome to deny the world champion a full set of Monument victories.

It was Van Aert’s first Monument win since he landed Milan-Sanremo six years ago. In the intervening period, he was denied by a succession of ill fortune and by the ravages of Pogačar and Mathieu Van der Poel's era of domination in the Classics.

Van Aert had to overcome two punctures, as well as Pogačar and Van der Poel, to win here, and he was full value for his victory, overwhelming the Slovenian in the sprint. Behind, Jasper Stuyven (Soudal-QuickStep) stole off the front of the chasing group for third, while Van der Poel had to settle for fourth after a race compromised by his double puncture in the Arenberg Forest. 

The two leaders spent the last 54km together off the front in what proved to be a delicately poised duel. Pogačar was the stronger rider, but Van Aert was more comfortable on the cobbles, and that meant the issue would remain in the balance all the way to the Roubaix velodrome.

The Carrefour de l’Arbre, so often the arbiter of this race, couldn’t separate them, with Van Aert smoothly resisting Pogačar’s onslaught, while Mathieu van der Poel – who seemed out of contention when he suffered a double puncture in the Arenberg Forest – was now closing in rapidly behind.

Although Van Aert was wisely unwilling to do quite as much work as Pogačar, the pair would find enough common cause to fend off the chasers and make it to the velodrome for the sprint. 

Even by its usual standards, this was an especially attritional edition of Paris-Roubaix, with none of the favourites spared mechanical misfortune. Pogačar endured two punctures and a spell on a neutral service bike, having been forced into a frantic pursuit when he had a flat tyre with 120km to go.

Pogačar latched back on just ahead of the Trouée d’Arenberg, where the pendulum swung back in his favour as his chief rival Van der Poel suffered two punctures and a slow bike change that left him with two minutes to recoup.

The winning move ultimately had its genesis in the Arenberg, with Van Aert and Pogačar part of a front group of seven that also included Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Jasper Stuvyen (Soudal Quick-Step). But there were still 90km and all sorts of pitfalls between the leaders and the Roubaix velodrome.

The front group’s momentum was soon fractured by punctures for Van Aert and Pogačar. Both men managed to chase back on, but the unity of the move was clearly ebbing away. With Van der Poel building up a head of steam and closing to within 20 seconds, Van Aert understood the urgency of the situation. 

With 54km to go, Van Aert attacked from on the entry to sector 12 at Auchy-lez-Orchies, and only Pogačar could follow. The pair would extend their lead over the following sector at Mons-en-Pévéle, where the world champion tried vainly to shake off Van Aert. 

The leaders hit the final 35km with a lead of 40 seconds over Van der Poel, and that holding pattern would remain until they hit the cobbles of Camphin-en-Pévèle with 19km to go, where Van der Poel’s injection of pace suddenly saw the chasers almost halve their deficit. It would all come down to the pivotal Carrefour de l’Arbre. 

Pogačar launched another onslaught here, almost crashing at one point, but he couldn’t shake off the doughty Van Aert, while a rampant Van der Poel was still shaving seconds off his deficit. 

In keeping with the tone of Monument racing in the Pogačar era, there was a supersonic start to the day, with the peloton covering some 53km in the first hour of racing, which meant there would be no early break. The day would end with a record winning speed for Paris-Roubaix of 48.91kph.

As ever, first contact with the cobbles at Troisvilles led to mishap in the peloton, with Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) among those to puncture, though he latched back on by sector 28 at Quiévy.

Van Aert was the next contender to suffer a puncture, but a quick change allowed him to reach the rear of the bunch on sector 27. By now, UAE, were dictating terms, and the peloton was down to barely 50 riders with more than 130km still to go. 

Pogačar’s challenge was put in doubt when he punctured on the cobbles of Quérénaing with 120km remaining. He was forced to a stop and onto a neutral service bike, but by the time the change was made, the second peloton was already upon him.

The UAE team car was somehow permitted to drive alongside the second peloton on sector 21 to give Pogačar a replacement bike, which he took with 115km to go. All remaining UAE riders bar Vermeersch were eventually ordered back to help his chase, while Alpecin and Visma set the pace at the head of the race, a minute up on Pogačar.

Politt, Bjerg and Morgado led the initial pursuit, but Pogačar still had 20 seconds to make up by the time he hit sector 20, and that was enough to spark a reaction out in front. With a shade under 104km to go, Van der Poel sprang into action, launching a long, searing acceleration that strung out and split the front group. 

Behind, Pogačar had left his teammates behind, and he was surfing through dropped riders in a desperate attempt to rejoin the front, but he still had 20 seconds to make up on the approach to the Arenberg. The junction was made with a shade under 100km to go. The race had reset, but how much would this effort cost Pogačar?

But Paris-Roubaix can turn on a knife edge, and the Arenberg would instead prove the graveyard of Van der Poel’s bid to win for the fourth straight time. He looked ominously smooth on the entry to the Arenberg, tucked behind a fluid Van Aert, but he was forced to a halt by a puncture. A quick bike swap with Jasper Philipsen proved unsuitable, and when Van der Poel eventually got going after taking a wheel from Tibor del Grosso, he suffered a second puncture. By the exit of the Arenberg, Van der Poel was aboard his spare bike, but he was over two minutes down on the leaders. 

The front group, meanwhile, was down to just nine riders: Pogačar, Van Aert, Christophe Laporte (Visma), Pedersen, Laurence Pithie, Jordi Meeus, (Red Bull), Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quick-Step), Stefan Bissegger (Decathlon-CMA CGM) and Filippo Ganna (Ineos).

Van der Poel was still chasing gamely, chipping away at his deficit, while the leading group was soon reduced to six riders after punctures for Ganna and Pithie, who had Meeus wait for him.

Pogačar endured another setback with a puncture after sector 16 at Warlaing. This was dealt with altogether more promptly than his previous puncture, and his chase was helped too, when Van Aert suffered a mechanical on sector 15. That led Laporte to knock off the pace in front, though Pedersen was keen at least to make Pogačar and Van Aert work to get back into the race.

Pogačar was safely back aboard with 68km to go, with Van Aert rejoining alongside Meeus and Pithie 8km or so later, just before sector 13 at Orchies. Van der Poel was now going into overdrive to get back into the race, rattling across the cobbles and slicing his deficit to 40 seconds by the time he came off the sector. He couldn’t, could he?

Not if his old foe Van Aert could help it. The Belgian attacked on the entry to sector 12 with 54km to go, and only Pogačar could follow. Indeed, the world champion struggled at times to hold Van Aert’s wheel due to the Belgian’s superior technique. They emerged from the sector with 15 seconds on Pedersen and 25 seconds on the Van der Poel group. 

Pogačar took up the reins on the next sector at Mons-en-Pévèle, where the uphill drag suited his superior power-to-weight ratio, but Van Aert resisted the onslaught. He would so again at the Carrefour de l'Arbre. From there, it was a question of holding his nerve all the way to the Roubaix. 

And Van Aert did, opening his sprint from distance to beat Pogačar, and then collapsing in tears on the grass in the centre of the velodrome.