Watts Occuring: Lewis Askey on just how impressive Van Aert, Van der Poel and Pogačar were at Roubaix

Finishing thirteenth, Lewis Askey was the first Briton to cross the line in the Roubaix velodrome at Paris-Roubaix. The NSN rider was stunned by what he had witnessed in the Hell of the North. He saw the impressive efforts of Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar from up close, but also enjoyed the victory of Wout van Aert.

Askey remained with the front group for a long time, but when the big hitters really opened the throttle, he could do nothing but wave. In the second group he held his own impressively, finishing 13th, just under four minutes behind winner Van Aert.

But what Askey saw during the race was extraordinary in itself. "For me, it was really impressive to see the level of the top riders again," he said on Geraint Thomas and Luke Rowe's podcast Watts Occurring. "The race Van der Poel had... the fact he was even at the front at the end, I’m truly amazed by. It really shows the level they are playing at."

The same applies to Pogacar, who also put in impressive efforts after an early puncture. "I don't know how much time we had on that sector before Arenberg. He was, from what I understand, still not in that group. We came out of there with maybe fifteen riders. It perhaps came back together a bit on that big road. I had to make a massive effort just to be there, so that cooked me a bit," Askey explains.

And who suddenly reappeared once again? Pogacar. "He came from behind and brought a group of twenty to thirty riders back to us. To me, that is so impressive. The fact that he had already made all that effort at that point just to be back. After that, he was in the front group again, had to swap again. How much strength it takes to keep returning time and again."

Ultimately, the World Champion had to concede to Van Aert in the sprint, as the Belgian finally secured his long-awaited victory in a cobbled Monument. Askey was pleased with the result as well. "I was always a fan. I think, as strange as it is to say because he is one of the best riders in the world, he was always a bit of an underdog. I think so many people wanted him to win. A bit of a fairytale ending, then. I think that’s very cool."

The Briton did note that, as is often the case in the Hell of the North, bad luck played a major role. "I think you never get a straightforward Roubaix. A simple race where no one has bad luck. You always get a problem. We saw with Van der Poel that it was just too much. With Pogi... could Wout have stayed with him if he hadn't faced problems? How much did that take out of him? I don't know."

Van der Poel also faced his share of issues, perhaps at the worst possible moment. This sparked a significant pedal discussion: why was Philipsen riding the prototype pedals while the Dutchman was not? "Is it the race to try prototype pedals? I don't know," asked Askey.

On the topic of bike swaps Askey is more certain, however. "I can also imagine that Philipsen is not the go-to bike swap for Van der Poel beforehand," the Briton continues. "I think normally he is also someone who is supposed to receive a bike. I don't know if they planned it that way. I think in the heat of the moment, it was a bit of a panic situation."

Rowe agrees, suggesting Philipsen would be the last person to give up his bike. "Yes, definitely. I was surprised by that. He was in a good position. I don't know. In hindsight, it’s always easy to criticise teams, but was it a mistake to test something that big in Paris-Roubaix? Yes,' Rowe concludes.