"Legs like spaghetti": Pogacar beaten at Paris-Roubaix

Felix Schröder, Stefan Tabeling and Tom Bachmann, dpa

A disappointed Tadej Pogacar trudged off the venerable concrete track in the Velodrome with his face smeared with dirt, the world champion leaned back on his bike, completely exhausted. In a race for the history books, the exceptional Slovenian rider had tried everything, mastered three bike changes in the Hell of the North - and yet lost out to Belgian classics specialist Wout van Aert in a sprint in the final of the Paris-Roubaix cobblestone ordeal.

"When I rode together with Wout, there wasn't much freshness left in my legs. To outsprint him on the cobbles would have been mission impossible. I still had hope for the sprint, but my legs were like spaghetti. He won on the Champs-Élysées. It's hard to beat him," said Pogacar.

Van Aert: "This victory is for Michael"

With his second place again, Pogacar missed the next important milestone in cycling by a wafer-thin margin. The exceptional Slovenian rider still has to wait for his first victory in Roubaix, which would have seen him join the elite circle around legend Eddy Merckx. After 258.3 kilometres between Compiègne and Roubaix, the sprint had to be decided after Pogacar and van Aert had fought a thrilling duel on the cobblestone sectors without a winner.

Ten-time Tour stage winner van Aert, meanwhile, celebrated the biggest success of his career. It was an emotional triumph. "This means everything to me. This has been a goal since 2018, when I rode here for the first time. Eight years ago, I lost my team-mate Michael Goolaerts in this race. Since then, it's been my goal to come here and put my finger in the sky. This victory is for Michael, especially for his family," said an emotional van Aert. Goolaerts had suffered a heart attack during the race.

However, van Aert had to work hard before his victory, as Pogacar tried everything on the cobbles to outpace the Belgian. Pogacar had already finished second in his Roubaix debut last year. This means he will have to postpone his attack on the historic coup for a year. With a victory in the Queen of the Classics, Pogacar would have celebrated at least one victory in all five major one-day races - the so-called Monuments. Only the three Belgians Merckx, Roger De Vlaeminck and Rik Van Looy have managed this before the Slovenian.

Van der Poel with defect in the Arenberg forest

Pogacar's eagerly awaited duel with his great rival Mathieu van der Poel, on the other hand, was cancelled. The Dutch former world champion missed the connection after an untimely defect in the notorious Arenberg forest and thus also his fourth victory in a row. Van der Poel tried with all his might to get back to the front - without success. In the end, he finished fourth.

In a spectacular 123rd edition, however, no rider was spared technical problems. Pogacar also had to get off his bike twice and start a chase to catch up. Van Aert had to get off his bike once, but then couldn't be shaken off in the duel with Pogacar on the rough cobblestone sectors.

The decision was only made in the velodrome. Pogacar launched the sprint there, but van Aert passed him and quickly opened up a gap. Pogacar was unable to close this gap. The best German was Nils Politt from Cologne in ninth place.

Pogacar with tyre damage

With a strong tailwind, the pros rode at a brisk pace in the first of 30 hard and unforgiving cobblestone sectors. When the first cobblestone sector awaited around 160 kilometres before the finish, the two top favourites Pogacar and van der Poel were well positioned at the front of the peloton. Everything initially went according to plan in this spectacle, but then a flat front tyre slowed Pogacar down 120 kilometres before the finish.

Without quick help from a team car, the world champion had to make do with a neutral spare wheel. He didn't have to wait long: with the right spare wheel and a short warning for a camera motorbike in the way, he continued with a 50-second gap. Driven by the Cologne helper Nils Politt, Pogacar fought his way back to the group.

The Slovenian closed the gap again before the infamous Arenberg forest. And then his rival was caught out: Van der Poel had a defect. The Dutchman grabbed his team-mate's bike, but it didn't fit. So began the long wait for the support vehicle. Van der Poel lost two minutes on the leading group around Pogacar. It was the expected hectic race with crashes, punctures and plenty of drama.

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