Paris-Roubaix 2025, one day monument, April 13 (men)

[Valv.Piti]

My analysis is that Mathieu would have won regardless. I think he was marginally stronger than Pog, and he obviously has a much better sprint, so it was gg. As good as Mads is, Mathieu was absolutely monstrous today, so I don't think he would have been a problem either. Wout with a Wout 2025-performance, absolutely shite in positioning, but gets better the longer the race goes on.

 

[andrew_s]

Some pics

https://twitter.com/x/status/1911442229756899480

View: https://x.com/parisroubaix/status/1911442229756899480

Picture 2:
Is that a bike wheel I see getting thrown into the race? (Upper right, by the French flag.)

 

[red_flanders]

Picture 2:
Is that a bike wheel I see getting thrown into the race? (Upper right, by the French flag.)

It does look a little odd, but pretty typical of soigneurs to hold up wheels along the roadside in the air like that.

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

Picture 2:
Is that a bike wheel I see getting thrown into the race? (Upper right, by the French flag.)

Part of northern French tradition and cultural heritage of religious origin "Feu de la Saint Jean", a burning rolling wooden wheel. Here a quick and creative replacement has been found.

 

[Leinster]

Pog seems like such a good guy, that it should be easy to cheer for him...but his fans make that more challenging.

Everyone who is successful attracts fans, and unfortunately the loudest fans of some teams attract more attention than the more reasonable ones, so we shouldn’t tar all of them with the sam brush,

Except Yankees fans, they’re the worst.

 

[scribers]

Everyone who is successful attracts fans, and unfortunately the loudest fans of some teams attract more attention than the more reasonable ones, so we shouldn’t tar all of them with the sam brush,

Except Yankees fans, they’re the worst.

Philadelphia fans a terrible in general. I find all Canadian hockey fans to be intolerable. They’ll tear down an opponent and completely disappear from previous comments when the tables turn. All of them. And the Vancouver fans rioting lol

 

[jmdirt]

Picture 2:
Is that a bike wheel I see getting thrown into the race? (Upper right, by the French flag.)

Its a decoration on the hill I think?

 

[scribers]

Checking again, it wasn't Wright who made it, but either Van Mechelen or Bauhaus.

I also don't get why UAE let the pace drop in the group. Politt followed one attack, but not the next one. Had he kept the pace higher, UAE had a greater chance to have the numbers after Arenberg.

I think the captain was going by feel. And by that I mean SMASH TIME . The rest of them barely saw him again after

 

[Hugh Januss]

It does look a little odd, but pretty typical of soigneurs to hold up wheels along the roadside in the air like that.

If I blow it up I'm pretty sure I see a hand wrapped around it.

 

[Hugh Januss]

Have to agree while viewing the last 50km. MvP stayed cool and Tadej attacked him some km before he rode off and lost his block of time. He pretty much confirmed to MvP that he feared his sprint wouldn't take it. Once Mvp had the gift of that gap he managed his efforts to fend off Tadej. How? The communication with his DS in the car allowed micromanagement of counter aggression. Tadej worked to get close and Matheu applied enough effort to reform the gap at what appeared to be the best opportunities. This reconfirms my issue with constant, direct DS to rider communication. Mvp started riding to sap Pogacar's attacks; confident he could win a sprint if they came back together. He would have had to apply full TT mode without the help from his car.
Given how well he knows the course I had no doubt he'd win if the two were together in the velodrome but the advantage of knowing every second of gain or loss by Pogacar was a definite advantage.

For what it's worth Van der Poel said in his post race interview that his radio was not working?

 

[jono]

For what it's worth Van der Poel said in his post race interview that his radio was not working?

Indeed. In fact, part of the reason he flatted on Carrefour de l'Arbre was because he was taking unnecessary risks, thinking the gap was much smaller than the 1 minute plus it really was.

 

[Oldman]

For what it's worth Van der Poel said in his post race interview that his radio was not working?

If it wasn't he spent alot of time conversing over a dead mic while Tadej was doing all the work. Likely tracking how far back his teammate was trying to cross and make it a 2 on 1. Then his car was riding along side him on any road not pave' for the last 20km. Giving him candy bars, it looked like. Maybe some intel.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

It's a great era for 3 races only, namely Sanremo, RVV and Roubaix, and all are H2H battles with little suspense outside of that.

Van der Poel isn't gonna be around forever, he's indicated fairly clearly he won't race late into his 30s, so I'd actually say the future of cycling looks dire.

Whining all the time? Enjoy the rivalry while it lasts. Teddy won't be super-strong forever as well, in a few years the landscape can look completely different.

 

[DaLong]

Rewatched the Pogi crash a couple of times and to me it’s so clear it was a mistake. He arrogantly attacked directly before and MvdP knew of the turn coming up so he backed off the pedals a bit and let Pogi come in HOT. This is yet another example of MvdP being the superior racer as well, let the other guy attack into a tricky turn and calmly take the inside and launch.

Anyone that claims that was unlucky doesn’t assume responsibility. He didn’t practice it enough. He didn’t CX enough. I’ll give you he was unlucky to be born without Mathieu’s otherworldly hand eye coordination though. You can’t assume responsibility (mistake) and not assume it (unlucky) at the same time.

 

[Red Rick]

Whining all the time? Enjoy the rivalry while it lasts. Teddy won't be super-strong forever as well, in a few years the landscape can look completely different.

Cycling has been by far the most static it has been in the last few years than it's ever been. We've had the same top 2 at the Tour de France 4 times in a row, and both riders are still under the age of 30. Even the 4th best GC rider is virtually unbeatable by the 5th and below if they don't crash out of the race.

In the cobbles, the top 2 are completely locked down, and now apprently the #3 and #4 are also completely locked down. Liege and Lombardia are complete non contests that might as well be emails. Also the first time we have like 3 truly mountainious WCs in a row just happens at the time it'll be 3 complete walkovers.

I guess we will have Pippo Ganna being a wildcard in Milano Sanremo. Yay.

 

[Salvarani]

Whining all the time? Enjoy the rivalry while it lasts. Teddy won't be super-strong forever as well, in a few years the landscape can look completely different.

Great time for cycling to watch these legends race! This era goated.

 

[search]

yeah, luck is always a part of it, of course. Mayrhofer and de Bondt had attacked and passed Philipsen in the end already, for example, but then missed the entry to the Velodrome, so more points became available again.

How did they manage to miss the entrance?

Good question, but I have no idea. Mayrhofer said he just followed de Bondt.

(moved over from the UCI Points thread)

De Bondt has his ride on Strava, and it actually happened at the corner with ~one k to go. They didn't treat it as a right-hand bend (like MvdP in the picture), but as a chicane instead.

 

[RedheadDane]

You'd think knowing the entrance to the velodrome would be a part of recon...

 

[Netserk]

Cycling has been by far the most static it has been in the last few years than it's ever been. We've had the same top 2 at the Tour de France 4 times in a row, and both riders are still under the age of 30. Even the 4th best GC rider is virtually unbeatable by the 5th and below if they don't crash out of the race.

In the cobbles, the top 2 are completely locked down, and now apprently the #3 and #4 are also completely locked down. Liege and Lombardia are complete non contests that might as well be emails. Also the first time we have like 3 truly mountainious WCs in a row just happens at the time it'll be 3 complete walkovers.

I guess we will have Pippo Ganna being a wildcard in Milano Sanremo. Yay.

The tennis-fication will continue until morale improves

 

[elguapo]

ASO should now consider using the last 42 km of this Paris-Roubaix parcour as a feature ITT stage in future Tour de France.

 

[Kazistuta]

Apparently the guy who threw the bottle at VDP has turned himself in. Let's see what the legal outcome is...

 

[ChasingPotatoes]

Rewatched the Pogi crash a couple of times and to me it’s so clear it was a mistake. He arrogantly attacked directly before and MvdP knew of the turn coming up so he backed off the pedals a bit and let Pogi come in HOT. This is yet another example of MvdP being the superior racer as well, let the other guy attack into a tricky turn and calmly take the inside and launch.

Anyone that claims that was unlucky doesn’t assume responsibility. He didn’t practice it enough. He didn’t CX enough. I’ll give you he was unlucky to be born without Mathieu’s otherworldly hand eye coordination though. You can’t assume responsibility (mistake) and not assume it (unlucky) at the same time.

It's a very famous secteur that has been in Roubaix already for a long time (since 1978). The middle of the road is much higher, so off-chamber is a real risk.

50°32'11.8"N 3°07'17.5"E · 50.536611, 3.121528

maps.app.goo.gl

There are actually not a lot of secteurs with 2 curves (a), so it should have been one to watch out, and specifically I don't know why MvdP missed it. He was probably dragged away too much by Pogs speed / move and didn't want to let go the wheel to take it at a safe speed, so while a mistake from Pog, MvdP also overcooked that turn, I wouldn't give him too much credit, I would rather say Pog was overconfident at that moment, than to look for anything MvdP did much better in that curve, other than having just enough time as a second rider to correct out of that turn.

 

[Zoetemelk-fan]

Just identified that a handful of post race voters had been voting for this editions' winner.
Expecting some hindsight posts incoming

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

Rewatched the Pogi crash a couple of times and to me it’s so clear it was a mistake. He arrogantly attacked directly before and MvdP knew of the turn coming up so he backed off the pedals a bit and let Pogi come in HOT. This is yet another example of MvdP being the superior racer as well, let the other guy attack into a tricky turn and calmly take the inside and launch.

Anyone that claims that was unlucky doesn’t assume responsibility. He didn’t practice it enough. He didn’t CX enough. I’ll give you he was unlucky to be born without Mathieu’s otherworldly hand eye coordination though. You can’t assume responsibility (mistake) and not assume it (unlucky) at the same time.

Not arguing it was unlucky, but I doubt he 'arrogantly' attacked, he just didn't know the course well enough. He said in the interview post race, that he was looking at the parked motos ahead, and "in my head they were going straight, nobody was turning, and then I come into the corner really really really fast...". So he had a mistaken perception of the situation, that would not have happend had he been aware of where he was. So he was done in by inexperience that led to a misperception of the situation imo.

 

[ChasingPotatoes]

Paris Roubaix was carnage, literally.
Such a shame for all those who e.g. broke bones and are out, sometimes for months, while being in top shape.

• Julius van den Berg, Ayco Bastiaens, Manlio Moro = broken collarbone
• Silvan Dilier broke his right hand
• Ballerini broke his wrist in multiple places
• Edward Theuns to hospital with a neckbrace
• Mathias Vacek fell on his head, concussion protocol applied but finished the race.
• Politt, Mohoric, Stuyven, Segaert, van Aert, Behrens, Simmons, Scotson, Kubis, Philipsen and Stockman (and some others I don't remember / weren't noticed by the press or race radio) crashed but finished.
• Kristoff crashed and didn't finish, in his (probably) last Roubaix. No further info.
• Kung fell on his face and was bleeding, but finished the race.

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Paris-Roubaix is a race that is thrilling but unfortunately also brutal on many. Crashes open often due to the tension but also the treacherous aspect of racing on narrow and cobbled roads. Stefan Kün...

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