Sagan's former domestique offers a belated lesson for Alpecin-Premier Tech after Van der Poel's pedal disaster

It was perhaps the defining moment of Paris-Roubaix 2026: Mathieu van der Poel puncturing in the Arenberg Forest. Much has already been said and written about it, but Alan Marangoni, who rode Paris-Roubaix six times and served as a key domestique for Peter Sagan, returned to the subject with Italian outlet Bici. What exactly went wrong?

Van der Poel's puncture in the Forest was bad enough — but the location is the worst possible place to go flat. Teammate Jasper Philipsen stopped to offer his bike, but because the Belgian was running different pedals, a second swap had to be made before Van der Poel could ride. Team boss Christoph Roodhooft later accepted responsibility for the incident.

Enter Marangoni, who handed his bike to Sagan at Paris-Roubaix 2014 when the Slovak punctured. Back then, there were no pedal compatibility issues, and both riders were roughly the same height. "I just had a bit more handlebar reach, so I was positioned slightly higher. Peter teased me about it afterwards, saying it felt like riding a chopper," the Italian recalled with a smile.

This year, though, he watched things unravel for Alpecin-Premier Tech at the Hell of the North. "I think it all started with a bad decision from Philipsen, which then threw everything into chaos," Marangoni began. "He hadn't thought it through. He immediately wanted to give Van der Poel his bike, without considering that he is smaller — and therefore on a smaller frame — and above all that he was running different pedals."

His verdict, in short? "A disaster." But Marangoni also believes Philipsen would have been better off simply handing over his wheel rather than the whole bike. And he does not let Van der Poel entirely off the hook either.

"In my view, Van der Poel was not entirely clear-headed in that moment — even if it may have looked that way from the outside. Of course, it's never easy to make the right call in those situations, and that's exactly what they need to practise: dealing with the unexpected. Especially in a race like Roubaix."

Marangoni suspects no contingency plan had been agreed in advance. "That's strange when you think about it, given that every other detail is carefully considered. It would be enough to decide beforehand what to do when something happens — draw up a list of possible scenarios."

He offers a concrete example. "When is it best to take the leader's bike, and when is it better to wait for the team car? And when should you change just the wheel? Of course, swapping a wheel might cost a few seconds immediately, but then you have your own bike. If you're riding a bike that isn't yours for ten or twenty kilometres, you simply can't push as hard. It's better to decide in advance what you're going to do, so that when the moment comes, you know exactly what to do," the former professional concluded.