Paris-Roubaix 2026, one day monument, April 12

[Dazed and Confused]

Does the top 10 seem random to you?
Pog, WVA, MvdP, Mads .... I think most everybody would have predicted them to finish top 10.
I could argue it's the same old faces once again, the opposite of randomness.

Most had these in the top 5, but one was excused as he was really affected by a crash .... 2 months earlier.

 

[tobydawq]

And tomorrow, will start my yearly sadness of having to wait 364 days until we get to watch another.

It will only be 363 days by tomorrow.

 

[Gratemans]

Asked if he is already looking for more next year, he said that it's not a race he enjoys or looks forward to, just one he is good at.

I love that description 😆

 

[Libertine Seguros]

Fair enough. I can see your points but I don't really know what you could have realistically hoped for in today's race if a Van Aert win over Pogi is also dismissed as something we've seen lots of times before. It's not like Aivaras Mikutis and Victor Vercouillie were going to be duking it out for the win.

Of course, but I felt like with the mechanicals it might have left us with a larger selection, or some riders like Pedersen still there as wildcards at least until somewhere like Carrefour de l'Arbre. I think something like 2011 or 2016 where the big guns cancel each other out was unlikely, but I'd hoped that we'd still have more options on the table until a bit later on. As it was, we got a great middle phase of the race, but it all calmed down a lot for the last 40-50k once it was clear that the duo was decisively away, and the most excitement until they actually got to Roubaix was when Mathieu was getting the gap down to only around 20-25 seconds. And I don't really have the attachment to the narrative of van Aert or Visma-LeaseABike as an "underdog", because they're still so OP generally so I wasn't particularly attached to either outcome, I preferred van Aert of the two, but not enough to feel particularly invested in the outcome.

 

[Heston]

Most had these in the top 5, but one was excused as he was really affected by a crash .... 2 months earlier.

Im not sure which one of Wout and Mads you're talking about here. Surely it's true for both of them.

 

[Revelation]

Does the top 10 seem random to you?
Pog, WVA, MvdP, Mads .... I think most everybody would have predicted them to finish top 10.
I could argue it's the same old faces once again, the opposite of randomness.

More so about the randomness in terms of deciding the win, if nothing happened MVP was very likely to win IMO, Wout with an outside chance to staying in his wheel for a sprint.

 

[RobertCrawley]

 

[AnotherArmChair]

I dont understand people complaining about unfairness at PR with riders getting punctures? That is the nature of the race (and the sport) ...that these things can happen otherwise its not PR, its not cycling

Cycling is most of the time a 5 minute excitement slot in 4 hours of nothing much ,
Paris Roubaix is the most exciting of all pro cycling races imo exactly because anything can happen

Anyway so glad for Wout. It would have been a shame if he completed his career and never won PR considering he is so talented and tenacious and was built for cobbles

 

[SorelyBoy]

More so about the randomness in terms of deciding the win, if nothing happened MVP was very likely to win IMO, Wout with an outside chance to staying in his wheel for a sprint.

But the randomness is the unique thing about PR that sets it apart from the other races. It is brutal in a way the other races aren’t, both physically and emotionally. It breaks hearts as well as bodies and to win it you need less unluck than your competitors. Indeed there have been many editions of the race where Wout was the strongest rider, but had no luck at all. The cycling gods must smile on you with many other races, but especially so for this one.

 

[RobertCrawley]

I dont understand people complaining about unfairness at PR with riders getting punctures? That is the nature of the race (and the sport) ...that these things can happen otherwise its not PR, its not cycling

Cycling is most of the time a 5 minute excitement slot in 4 hours of nothing much ,
Paris Roubaix is the most exciting of all pro cycling races imo exactly because anything can happen

Anyway so glad for Wout. It would have been a shame if he completed his career and never won PR considering he is so talented and tenacious and was built for cobbles

That's why good teams win these races. Punctures and other mechanicals are going to happen. Teams must be prepared and ready along the route for every possibility.

And that means making sure everyone on the team has the same cleats so they can switch bikes.

 

[Heston]

I dont understand people complaining about unfairness at PR with riders getting punctures? That is the nature of the race (and the sport) ...that these things can happen otherwise its not PR, its not cycling

Cycling is most of the time a 5 minute excitement slot in 4 hours of nothing much ,
Paris Roubaix is the most exciting of all pro cycling races imo exactly because anything can happen

Anyway so glad for Wout. It would have been a shame if he completed his career and never won PR considering he is so talented and tenacious and was built for cobbles

My complaint is the opposite. It was ridiculous for Alpecin to wait for Pogacar before Arenberg.

 

[Unterlenkerfahrend]

If you told me 5 years ago how much I'd cheer for WVA to win a race I would have laughed at you. Very happy he finally gets it and we don't have another alien victory. At 30km to go I was certain he would get cooked but he actually played it perfect all the way.
Side note but MVDP incredible strong to actually finish 4th despite being over 2 minutes down after Arenberg with about 50 riders ahead of him at that point. Think a comeback like that hasn't happened in a long time and gone a bit under the radar.

 

[noob]

Maybe just the sting of losing his most sought prize, beaten in the sprint, in the legendary velodrome!

This was the one he wanted most. How can he even think about skipping next year if he's so obsessively hunting all five Monuments? But maybe not all in a single year anymore...

It tells me one thing only; he wants to win 3 GT

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Normal riders like Van Aert had to settle for just one place of 1st, 2nd and 3rd while Niklas Larsen has 1,2 and 3 in front of his name on the result sheet.

 

[proffate]

Not normally a Wout fan, but today I am for saving us from a monument sweep for at least another year.

Really too bad that disc brakes and mismatched pedals cost mvdp so much time getting going again. If you're not gonna make jasper run the same pedals then why does he even stop for Mathieu? I get heat of the moment decision making but this seems like something you gameplan ahead of time. Having one more teammate help him get back to the front could have made a big difference

 

[AmRacer]

My complaint is the opposite. It was ridiculous for Alpecin to wait for Pogacar before Arenberg.

Visma disagrees

 

[11-34]

I was actually kinda happy with all the mechanicals. I was a bit afraid, that with all the improving tech like 35mm low pressure tires, tube, milk, inflatable inner liners and so on, that PR could become a predictable road race in good weather. But the cobbles proved me wrong. So I am looking forward to the next year already.

 

[movingtarget]

Nice win by WVA. Happy for him.

 

[Revelation]

There's many ways to look at it, unpredictability is welcome at the current era of predictability (Pog&MVP), and if the possible winners of this race were Wout & MVP, then this particular randomness/luck was more than deserved for the former.

But randomness of punctures at PR aren't desirable in a vacuum, IMO. The main problem is the lack of rider control, sure probably over multiple events better ability on the cobbles will reward you with less punctures, but for this event, I seriously doubt there was any particular mistake from MVP/Pog/Wout that caused their punctures. When you add to this the fact that depending where it happens, as seen in this race, the cost can vary between 15 seconds to 2+ minutes, yeah, I'm not a fan in general.

 

[RobertCrawley]

I was actually kinda happy with all the mechanicals. I was a bit afraid, that with all the improving tech like 35mm low pressure tires, tube, milk, inflatable inner liners and so on, that PR could become a predictable road race in good weather. But the cobbles proved me wrong. So I am looking forward to the next year already.

Are they riding 35 mm tires?

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Happy to see del Grosso finishing the race after the debacle in Arenberg.

137

Del Grosso Tibor

Alpecin-Premier Tech

5

,,

+22:14.
Next year its time to move up.

 

[search]

the official result is still incorrect, by the way, with Tim (instead of Mick) van Dijke in 6th and Boivin instead of Askey in 13th

https://prod.server.tissottiming.com/file/0003190202010101FFFFFFFFFFFFFF00

 

[Rechtschreibfehler]

Are they riding 35 mm tires?

Pog did for example, his front wheel was 35mm, his back wheel 32mm IIRC.

 

[proffate]

Danish commentators say Philipsen is using some new prototype pedals. Which makes him offering up his bike to VDP incredibly dumb.

I missed what happened to JP after he got his bike back. Was he able to assist Mvdp in the chase at all?

Also was there a good reason for tibor to swap wheels instead of giving him his bike?

 

[proffate]

There's many ways to look at it, unpredictability is welcome at the current era of predictability (Pog&MVP), and if the possible winners of this race were Wout & MVP, then this particular randomness/luck was more than deserved for the former.

But randomness of punctures at PR aren't desirable in a vacuum, IMO. The main problem is the lack of rider control, sure probably over multiple events better ability on the cobbles will reward you with less punctures, but for this event, I seriously doubt there was any particular mistake from MVP/Pog/Wout that caused their punctures. When you add to this the fact that depending where it happens, as seen in this race, the cost can vary between 15 seconds to 2+ minutes, yeah, I'm not a fan in general.

They all had punctures. To some extent the difference was how they dealt with it. Alpecin really shot themselves in the foot by not having a plan. But yea in arenberg they could probably do with having some neutral service bikes on hand especially for the favorites. Tadej's neutral bike was well set up for him and promptly delivered in that earlier secteur.