Paris-Roubaix, run over 258.3 kilometres from Compiègne to Roubaix, is among the five Monuments of cycling and is feared for its brutal cobbled sectors, punctures and crashes. Pogačar started with the chance to complete another landmark in a career already packed with Grand Tour and Monument success. Official race material and team previews framed his ride as a bid to capture the one Monument still missing from his collection, while Reuters reported he was also attempting to become the first Tour de France champion since Bernard Hinault in 1981 to win the race known as the Hell of the North.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG made its intentions clear well before the decisive phase. The team said it drove the pace hard from about 150km out, thinning the bunch and ensuring the race became selective early. That aggression underlined the confidence around Pogačar’s condition after a spring campaign that had already delivered wins at Milan-Sanremo and the Tour of Flanders, results that elevated expectations that he could challenge on terrain long considered more suited to bigger specialists in the northern classics.
His race, however, was anything but straightforward. UAE Team Emirates-XRG said Pogačar suffered a front-wheel puncture with about 120km left, briefly taking a neutral service bike before switching back and chasing hard to rejoin the front group before the Arenberg Forest, one of the course’s defining sectors. Reuters also reported that Pogačar, Van Aert and defending force Mathieu van der Poel all had trouble with punctures or mechanical issues, with Van der Poel’s challenge undone by two setbacks that left him out of the final fight for victory.
The decisive move came later when Pogačar and Van Aert went clear after another sequence of mechanical disruptions. UAE Team Emirates-XRG placed that acceleration in the Auchy-lez-Orchies à Bersée sector with 54km remaining, after which the pair stayed away to contest the win themselves. Reuters said Pogačar repeatedly tried to shake Van Aert on the cobbles, but the Belgian matched him and then relied on his finishing speed in the velodrome. Jasper Stuyven took third, 13 seconds adrift, while Van der Poel, chasing a fourth straight Paris-Roubaix title, finished fourth.
For UAE Team Emirates-XRG, second place still represented a high-grade result in one of the sport’s most unforgiving races and reinforced Pogačar’s range across cycling’s most varied terrain. The team noted that this was his second participation and his second second-place finish in Paris-Roubaix, an indication that his presence is no novelty and that another attempt is likely. On the official race website, Pogačar said he would return to try to win it, while also praising Van Aert’s resilience and refusal to yield after years of misfortune in the race.
Van Aert’s victory carried its own weight. Reuters described it as the end of a decade-long jinx in a race that had repeatedly brought him crashes, punctures and disappointment. He told reporters the win meant everything to him and dedicated it to former teammate Michael Goolaerts, who died after suffering a cardiac arrest during the 2018 edition. That emotional layer gave added meaning to a finish already rich in sporting significance, with Van Aert finally converting years of promise in Roubaix into one of the biggest wins of his career.
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