Paris-Roubaix 2026 delivered one of those editions that will be remembered for years to come. The race gradually intensified until it became a brutal battle of attrition, with all the favorites forced to improvise amidst punctures, bike changes, crashes, and a series of attacks in the key sectors.
Wout van Aert now has his cobblestone. The Belgian won Paris-Roubaix 2026 after one of the most tense, eventful, and spectacular editions in recent years, a race in which he had to survive the chaos, recover from a puncture, and outsprint Tadej Pogacar in the velodrome.
The Slovenian rose to the challenge and once again turned the race into a relentless battle, but this time he found no answer in the final meters. Mathieu van der Poel, winner of the last three editions, was out of contention for the victory after suffering two punctures in the Arenberg Forest.
The 123rd edition of the Hell of the North began with tension. The pace was extremely high from the start, and the peloton spent much of the first half of the race riding at a frantic pace with little room to establish a stable breakaway. There were numerous attempts, but the top teams didn’t allow the race to settle. The average speed was enormous from very early on, and the wind also began to play its part, causing splits and forcing the favorites to stay at the front.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG increased the pace from the outset.
As the first major cobbled section approached, UAE Team Emirates-XRG clearly took on the responsibility of pushing the pace. Pogacar didn’t want a waiting game at Roubaix, but rather a race of continuous attrition. His riders steadily increased the speed, and the peloton began to shrink sector by sector. The first serious problems emerged on those first cobblestones.
Mads Pedersen had to chase after a puncture. Wout van Aert also suffered a breakdown and was forced to change bikes at a crucial moment, just as the leading group was forging ahead at full speed. Pogacar, who until then had always been well-positioned, soon experienced one of the key moments of the day.
Pogacar’s life becomes complicated before Arenberg
The world champion suffered a puncture before the Arenberg Forest, 120 km from the finish, and the incident was significant. He first had to continue on a neutral Shimano bike, and for several kilometers he was caught in an uncomfortable and grueling chase while the peloton continued to thin out ahead. It was a critical moment because losing contact before the forest usually means saying goodbye to victory.
Pogacar, however, didn’t crumble. With the help of his teammates, he gradually closed the gap until he rejoined just before the most feared section of the course. That effort left a huge strain on his legs, but it also confirmed that he had arrived in Roubaix ready to follow through on any scenario.
Arenberg blew the race apart and left Van der Poel reeling.
The Arenberg Forest was the decisive turning point. Van Aert entered the climb perfectly positioned, Pogacar managed to catch up after his chase, and Van der Poel also appeared at the front, intending to start thinning the field. But inside the forest, everything changed.
The Dutchman suffered a puncture, tried to fix it with the help of his team, and shortly afterward, he punctured again. The sequence was chaotic, to the point where he lost a significant amount of time and was completely dropped from the leading group. The race of the overwhelming favorite was shattered there. Later, he staged a tremendous comeback, but that double puncture left him with no real chance of fighting for a fourth consecutive victory.
Up ahead, the selection was clear. Riders like Pogacar, Van Aert, Pedersen, Laporte, Bissegger, Pithie, and Stuyven emerged from Arenberg at the front, with Ganna and Meeus trying to rejoin them. It was now a race of big names and resilient legs.
Punctures, chases, and an ever-shrinking race
The post-Arenberg stage maintained the same chaotic tone. Ganna managed to rejoin the peloton, but was dropped again by another puncture. Pithie also lost contact due to mechanical problems. Each sector seemed to punish someone, and the leading group was constantly changing shape.
Pogacar wasn’t spared either. He suffered a second puncture when he was already fully back in contention. Van Aert, for his part, also had to manage his second puncture of the day. The two main protagonists reached the finish after having suffered two punctures, a fact that perfectly illustrates the level of chaos that characterized this Roubaix.
Meanwhile, Van der Poel never stopped chasing. First, he managed to rejoin the intermediate groups and then gradually closed the gap to the most dangerous chasing pack. He seemed doomed after Arenberg, but he never stopped riding as if the race were still on.
Van Aert’s attack changed Paris-Roubaix
About 54 kilometers from the finish came the move that definitively altered the race. Van Aert attacked just before the Auchy-lez-Orchies à Bersée sector. It was a crucial move because it came at the moment when Van der Poel was starting to close the gap dangerously. The Belgian understood that he couldn’t afford to wait any longer.
Only Pogacar and, for a brief stretch, Mads Pedersen were able to respond. The Dane eventually cracked, and the race became a head-to-head battle between the two men who had best resisted all day. From that moment on, the fight for victory became a pure duel between an increasingly solid Van Aert and a Pogacar determined to decide the race by force.
Pogacar tested Van Aert several times on Mons-en-Pévèle, one of the key climbs of the course. He attacked within the sector and tried to open a gap on the subsequent asphalt, but the Belgian always responded. There were moments when Van Aert seemed to be pushing to the limit, though never quite cracking, and others when he was the one putting Pogacar under pressure, even forcing him onto the grassy edge to maintain his line and pace.
This exchange led to a very clear conclusion. Pogacar was the more aggressive, the one most determined to break away, but Van Aert was having his best Roubaix, with a blend of endurance, composure, and power that he hadn’t managed to muster in his previous attempts.
Camphin and Carrefour de l’Arbre took the duel to the extreme.
With a lead of around 40 seconds over the chasing group, Pogacar and Van Aert entered the decisive sequence towards Camphin-en-Pévèle and Carrefour de l’Arbre. This was the terrain where the Slovenian had to make a decisive move before the velodrome. And he did.
Right at the start of the Carrefour de l’Arbre sector, Pogacar launched a blistering attack. He entered first, decisively, and for a few seconds it seemed he might open up the gap he’d been seeking all afternoon. But Van Aert held on. He held on even when Pogacar nearly crashed in the initial part of the sector, and stayed on his wheel when the race demanded extreme technique and composure.
Behind, Van der Poel led a chasing group that included Stuyven, Laporte, Pedersen, Mick van Dijke, and Bissegger. The gap dropped to 20 seconds at times, but up front, Pogacar and Van Aert managed to maintain enough control to battle for the win between themselves.
From the final cobblestone to the velodrome
Once past Carrefour, the feeling changed. There were no longer any sectors capable of breaking away through sheer brutality, and the race entered a phase of control, calculation, and tension. Pogacar continued to lead at many points, but he seemed to have lost the acceleration needed to shake off the Belgian. Van Aert, on the other hand, looked increasingly resilient.
At Gruson and then at Willems à Hem, it became clear that he still had the strength to contest the position and maintain the pace in the final kilometers. The gap over the chasing group grew again to half a minute, and everything began to point towards a two-man sprint.
Pogacar was the first to enter the velodrome, but Van Aert was right on his wheel. There was no hesitation. When he launched his sprint, the Belgian was clearly superior. Pogacar had no answer, and Van Aert crossed the finish line as the winner of Paris-Roubaix 2016, finally putting an end to his long-standing frustration in the cobbled Monuments.
The victory carries enormous weight for Van Aert. Not only did he finally win Roubaix, but he did so in a monumental edition, overcoming Pogacar in a direct confrontation and enduring a day where almost everything went wrong for almost everyone. He won after two punctures, after chasing, after responding to every decisive attack, and after finishing it off on the most symbolic stage imaginable.
Pogacar delivered a tremendous Roubaix in his attempt to complete all five Monuments, but this time he fell just one sprint short of glory. Van der Poel, hampered by his disaster at Arenberg, still had the strength to climb back to fourth place. Jasper Stuyven completed the podium with a highly commendable third position.
Pogacar put in a tremendous performance in Roubaix in his attempt to complete all five Monuments, but this time he fell just one sprint short of glory.
Paris-Roubaix 2026 results
Wout van Aert (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) — 5:16:52
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) — +00
Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quick-Step) — at 13s
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) — 15 seconds away
Christophe Laporte (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) — 15 seconds
Tim van Dijke (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) — at 15s
Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) — 15 s
Stefan Bissegger (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) — at 20 s
Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) — at 2:36
Mike Teunissen (XDS Astana Team) — at 2:36
Source: www.brujulabike.com