Van Aert outsprints Pogačar at Paris-Roubaix as punctures puts Van der Poel out of contention
CyclingSunday, 12 April 2026 at 16:58
Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) won a fantastic edition of Paris-Roubaix on Sunday after an intense battle with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) in the final hour of racing. Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) suffered badly with punctures in the Arenberg Forest, but still managed to salvage 4th place after a long chase. Jasper Stuyven finished 3rd.
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With Paris-Roubaix, the final cobbled Classic of the spring was on the programme. Just as at the Tour of Flanders, a gripping duel between Van der Poel and Pogačar was expected. Could the former win The Hell of the North for a fourth consecutive time? Or would the world champion complete his mission to win all five Monuments?
The riders were clearly fired up on Sunday morning. After ASO boss Christian Prudhomme dropped the flag, the first attacks came immediately. The ambition of many riders to make the breakaway was no surprise. Paris-Roubaix often offers opportunities for early attackers to reach deep into the finale.
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A group of three riders initially managed to break clear of the peloton, among them Dutchman Martijn Rasenberg of Unibet Rose Rockets. Although they put up a brave fight and rode ahead for a while, they were ultimately no match for the high speed of the peloton — the first half hour was raced at an average of 55 kilometres per hour.
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And it would not ease up after that. The kilometres flew by, bringing the riders to within about forty kilometres of the first cobbled sector. It was a blow for the riders who had hoped to build up a healthy lead before hitting the cobbles.
Heading towards the first sector, the peloton briefly split in two. The main favourites, including Pogačar and Van der Poel, surprisingly missed the move. Their teams reacted quickly, however, and straightened things out. The peloton then hit the first cobbled sector together. Rated at three stars, it was immediately a tough one.
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Shortly after the first sector, Mike Teunissen went on the attack. The Dutchman from XDS Astana opened a gap but, to his frustration, got no company, and was quickly absorbed. Meanwhile, Mads Pedersen returned to the peloton after a puncture. Shortly afterwards, Van Aert was also on the roadside with a mechanical. With the help of a teammate, he too rejoined without much trouble.
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Beyond the mechanical problems for several riders, the first batch of sectors also caused fragmentation. The peloton was once again split in two, partly due to the high tempo set by UAE Team Emirates-XRG. In the second group were, among others, the brothers Tim and Mick van Dijke, Jonas Abrahamsen and Per Strand Hagenes. The latter dropped back after a puncture.
In the second group, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, Uno-X and Unibet Rose Rockets led the chase. They remained stuck at about half a minute, however, as UAE did not let the pace drop at the front. Meanwhile, at the back of the first group, Ben Turner, Joshua Tarling (INEOS Grenadiers), Davide Ballerini (XDS Astana) and Pavel Bittner (Picnic-PostNL) crashed.
To the second group's benefit, Pogačar punctured with 120 kilometres to go. The world champion was forced to switch to a Shimano bike from the neutral service car and dropped back to the second group.
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Van der Poel starts early but is struck by bad luck at the worst moment
After Pogačar switched back to his own bike, he was sitting on a deficit of just under a minute. Bjerg, Politt and Morgado had to throw everything at it to bring the Slovenian leader back to the first group, where Alpecin-Premier Tech and Visma | Lease a Bike had taken control heading towards the next sectors.
Pogačar had to do the work himself on Haveluy, where Van der Poel fired up his engine in group one and caused further thinning. Heading towards the feared Arenberg Forest, the pace eased, which allowed Pogačar to rejoin just in time.
Van Aert led the charge into the feared sector, with Van der Poel on his wheel. The Dutchman punctured — just like Del Grosso — at the worst possible moment, after which Philipsen of all people gave him his wheel. That did not go smoothly, and Van der Poel's race appeared to be over in the Arenberg Forest.
A second puncture only confirmed it: VDP exited the sector more than two minutes behind the front of the race, and Alpecin-Premier Tech was suddenly completely out of it. At the front, Van Aert, Pogačar, Laporte, Pedersen, Pithie, Stuyven and Bissegger remained as a group of seven after a frantic passage through Arenberg.
On the next sector it was more of the same: Ganna, Meeus and Pithie were dropped, taking the group from nine down to six. And that while Van der Poel had begun his chase in the background and suddenly heard through his earpiece that there were others with punctures ahead. Could there still be hope for the three-time winner?
The chances rose, because Pogačar punctured again at the front. This time the UAE car was closer and the world champion could start his chase relatively quickly. The same happened to Van Aert, who punctured seconds later. The yellow Visma | Lease a Bike car was also able to help him quickly, although the next sector was fast approaching.
Van Aert hit that sector with a 20-second deficit, while Van der Poel and Ganna were by now only a minute behind the front. Pogačar was aware of it too and turned the throttle once more, but could not prevent the Belgian and his New Zealand companion Pithie from coming back. Van der Poel? He was closing in to 45 seconds with 60 kilometres to go.
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Van der Poel's raid, Pogačar and Van Aert respond
The Dutchman from Alpecin-Premier Tech joined Ganna, G. Vermeersch, M. van Dijke, Daan Hoole, Mike Teunissen, Nils Politt, Max Walscheid, Mathias Vacek, Anthony Turgis and Lewis Askey within a sigh of the remaining leaders. They got a little nervous there too, as evidenced by an attack by Van Aert at Orchies.
And that was a solid one: only Pogacar could answer it. Pedersen and co capped and thus got Van der Poel and Van Dijke on their roof. With that situation, we headed to Mons-en-Pevele, a five-star strip. Pogacar tried to unload Van Aert there, but the latter bit into the rainbow jersey's wheel full of character.
Together they made sure that Van der Poel's gap went back up to the 45 count mark, which seemed to halt the Dutchman's mad return. Were it not for the fact that Van Aert finally decided to play poker towards Carrefour de l'Arbre, bringing Van der Poel and co. back to twenty counts. What a thrill!
At the start of that all-decisive stretch, Pogacar immediately cranked his moped, as did Van der Poel in the chasing group. It didn't change the situation much: both men in front kept each other in sight, while Van der Poel kept riding at just over 20 seconds. The Dutchman seemed - logically - to have already lost his best arrows.
So Van Aert and Pogacar never left each other's side and they realized it on the road to Roubaix, where it looked like we were in for an iconic sprint. Van Aert knew Laporte was still behind him and decided not to take over in the last two kilometers, whereupon he attacked first, leaving the Slovenian behind. Stuyven finished third.
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Latest Comments
- Rider X, y and z? Could you update?yaNzKEWL21-03-2026
- Can anyone help me understand the thinking behind the two punishments? Are the commissaires saying you get thrown out of the race for a second inadvertent disposal of a bidon (even to the delight of fans) but that as long as you can afford it you can show off your phalangeal cuticles all day long on international TV? Aking for a friend.packfiller7112-03-2026
- It's a bit embarrassing that. Isn't the main sponsor supposed to keep them at 36.5 ?tomjacques03-03-2026
- They were close to cracking a very tired Tadej that wasn't fully focused on the TdF with a team of riders focused solely on cracking Tadej. And if they cracked him, he would have still won. Tadej won't be racing the giro this year. It'll be an even easier win for him.Veganpotter09-02-2026
- Nice!Bea22-01-2026
- Those events are mental rest for him. Fun, without expectations. *Sagan lost his abilities because he gained weight and got lazy. Pogi will likely retire before that has a chance at happening.Veganpotter14-12-2025
- Ah, the consequences of riding for Israel.Veganpotter11-12-2025
- Pidcock could follow everyone but Pogi while finishing 3rd. No second place rider this season😃Veganpotter16-11-2025
- Now the Palestinian protestors can stop their whining. Trump came to the rescue. So they can now STFU and go back to waving the rainbow flags.raufus15-10-2025
- Cracked the code lol. If it was that easy to 'crack the code' jonny Vegas would be charging up the Kwaremont giving Pog a dose of his medicine. Evenepoel can't match pog on a climb and neither can mvdp. Anything with a half difficult climb and Pog smashes the field. Even on flat(ish)parcours like Roubaix it came down to a mistake and crash by pog to definitively crown mvdp. MSR is the only one that Pog probably won't win.kevpt10-10-2025
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