Spotted on Strava: Van Aert improves KOM time on a flat tire (and still went full throttle in pursuit of Van der Poel)

Of course, after the race was over, the conversation was mostly centered around Wout van Aert's flat tire on the crucial cobblestone strip of Carrefour de l'Arbre. The Belgian of Jumbo-Visma had taken off together with Van der Poel, but had to get off his bike after the strip and was unable to catch up with his Dutch rival afterwards. As Van der Poel hasn't used his Strava account in a while, we like to marvel at the Strava statistics of the cyclist ranking third in last Sunday’s race....

Let's start with the general statistics first. Paris-Roubaix 2023 covered 256.6 kilometers and was completed by the winner, Van der Poel, in 5 hours, 28 minutes and 41 seconds. That means an officially measured average of 46.841 kilometers per hour, by far the fastest Paris-Roubaix ever! A year ago, Dylan van Baarle completed the cobbled classic at 45.792 kilometers per hour. Van der Poel beat this speed with one full kilometer per hour.

There was all-out racing all day long, as evidenced by the personal records Van Aert set on Strava in the opening hours of the race. The battle for the escape was so intense for the first two hours that when they arrived at the first strip, after more than 96 kilometers of racing, the average speed was more than 50 kilometers per hour. Even from this point onwards, the race never slowed down and Van Aert himself was also a major contributor.

The Belgian did indeed rock the boat one strip before the dreaded Bos van Wallers. Together with Christophe Laporte, he established the group that would eventually race together during the finale. Van Aert and Laporte finished the Haveluy à Wallers strip in 3 minutes and 7 seconds. That was ten (!) seconds faster than Kasper Asgreen’s time in 2022. Average speed on the 2.51 kilometer stretch – 48.5 kilometers per hour! Maximum speed on the flat cobblestones – 62.7 km per hour....

Van Aert and his companions continued at full speed beyond Haveluy à Wallers. Wout Van Aert did not achieve a KOM in the Bos van Wallers, but did set a personal best there. During the final segment 'P-R 145km 2021, from Arenberg' (94.04 kilometers long), Van Aert beat Timo Roossen's 2022 KOM by a landslide. Roosen finished the 2022 Paris-Roubaix finale in 2 hours, 10 minutes and 24 seconds. Van Aert only needed 2 hours, 7 minutes and 5 seconds this past Sunday.

Towards the finale, we mostly saw an active Van der Poel – without Strava, that is. Van Aert responded thoughtfully to all the jabs the Dutchman handed out, resulting in another KOM on the dark cobblestones of Mons-en-Pévèle. Towards the very end of the race, we suddenly saw some silver medals pop up and that was unsurprising: the seven leaders temporarily held back here, knowing that Carrefour de l'Arbre was yet to come. This particular section is rated five stars, just under two kilometers long and has been decisive many times in Paris-Roubaix.

We don’t know the exact speed at which Van der Poel blazed across the cobbled section last Sunday. Van Aert fell behind slightly towards the end of the cobbled section, due to his flat tire, but that didn't stop him from breaking the KOM. 2 minutes and 50 seconds, on a deflating tire.... Faster than ever – other than that, none of his stats from the 2023 edition made it to the top ten of the KOM list...

However, after this record-breaking effort, it was game over for Van Aert. Although he didn't immediately resign himself to the fact. On the strip after Carrefour de l'Arbre – Gruson – Van Aert again raced at record-breaking speed, while Jasper Philipsen was the only rider still holding on. 49.2 kilometers per hour on average across the cobblestone section, after hours of racing. The KOM for the strip Willem á Hem also got crushed and Van Aert was seven seconds faster than the group in pursuit – which included, among others, Filippo Ganna.

To no avail... Van Aert had already lost, he said afterwards. 'I think I lost 20 to 25 seconds because of that wheel change. You can't make up for that when Mathieu is in top shape,' he admitted honestly. It was evident from the KOM of the 'Final Paris / Roubaix' segment just how hard Van der Poel and Van Aert were still pushing each other towards the Vélodrome. Van Aert still completed the 5.47 kilometer stretch at 49.8 (!) kilometers per hour and topped the previous record time from 2019 by no less than ten seconds. And Van der Poel – without Strava – was even faster...

In deze wetenschap was het niet zo gek dat Philipsen het sprintje voor de tweede plek won. Van Aert perste er nog een piek van 62,2 kilometer per uur uit, maar had in de kilometers ervoor al alles gegeven om überhaupt nog voor het podium te rijden. Een bijna perfecte koers voor de kopman van Jumbo-Visma, op die ene lekke band op Carrefour de l'Arbre na dan.

Knowing this, it was no surprise that Philipsen won the sprint for second place. Van Aert squeezed out another peak of 62.2 kilometers per hour, but had already given his all during the previous kilometers for a chance to make it to the podium. It was a nearly perfect race for the Jumbo-Visma leader, except for that one flat tire on Carrefour de l'Arbre.