Van Aert Finally Conquers Roubaix — What It Took to Beat Pogačar on the Cobbles
Wout van Aert edged out Tadej Pogačar in a Paris-Roubaix thriller featuring punctures, bike changes, and a velodrome sprint. Here's the story of a Monument victory years in the making.
Paris-Roubaix 2026 delivered everything we hoped for — and more.
Wout van Aert, after years of near-misses and heartbreak on the cobblestones, finally claimed the Hell of the North in a breathtaking finale that saw both he and Tadej Pogačar deal with punctures and bike changes in the final 30 kilometers.
The decisive moment
With 15km to go, both favorites were fighting mechanicals. Van Aert’s team car appeared first, and those 30 seconds of advantage proved decisive. By the time they hit the velodrome, van Aert had just enough in the tank to hold off Pogačar’s trademark explosive sprint.
Jasper Stuyven rounded out the podium, while Franziska Koch took a stunning victory in the women’s race ahead of Marianne Vos and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot.
What this means for the season ahead
Van Aert’s cobbled Monument completes an incredible palmarès gap. With Milan-San Remo and Tour of Flanders already on his shelf, the Belgian now has three of the five Monuments — and at 31, he’s showing no signs of slowing down.
For Pogačar, the result will sting, but his attention now turns to the Grand Tour season and his quest for a third consecutive Tour de France.
The CycleLytic take
The data tells an interesting story: van Aert’s normalized power over the final hour was estimated at 380W+ on the cobbled sectors. For those of us tracking our own performances on CycleLytic, that’s a reminder of just how extraordinary these athletes are — and why comparing yourself to the pros is a losing game. Focus on your own data, your own progress.
The spring classics are wrapping up, but the real fireworks are just beginning. The Giro d’Italia kicks off May 8, and we’ll have a full preview right here on The Pulse.