“NEVER SAY DIE” that could be Wout Van Aert’s motto
following the Belgian’s terrific victory in the fastest ever edition of the
cobbled classic Paris – Roubaix on Sunday,
dishing out a rare defeat to world champion Tadej Pogacar, outsprinted on the line.
The race was run off at 51kph,in the record time of 5 hours 16 minutes and 52
seconds for the 258 kilometres, after dishing out mechanical problems to one
and all.
Belgian Jasper Stuyven was third as three times
winner Mathieu Van der Poel, the joint favourite with Pogacar, struggled in
fourth, one of many to lose out.
Victory was sweet for Van Aert so often denied by
falls and injuries and punctures. He has nevertheless remained steadfast, has
never given up, overcoming such setbacks
to land memorable victories, with the exception of those races in which Pogacar
has held an unassailable position ahead of him and everyone else.
Until this day when fate levelled the playing field with
extraordinary ruthlessness which saw the expected punctures and falls extended
to include all
the favourites halted during the course of the day.
We saw some famous names stopped at the roadside
waiting for assistance before pulling out all the stops to clawback lost time in the choking dust and
over the bone jarring cobbles.
So it was that only two of them, on their last legs
nonetheless, Van Aert and Pogacar, both having rejoined the action after
delays, raced into the lead together over the final kilometres.
Then to fight it out on the velodrome where Van Aert put a couple
of lengths into his rival who for once struggled to find an answer.
Bad luck for Van der Poel, who had been attacking at
the front when he punctured twice in the Arenberg cobbled sector and needed
three bike changes.
So Van der Poel, bidding for a fourth consecutive
Paris – Roubaix in race pitched as a duel between him and Pogacar seeking his
first here, was cruelly denied. He had attacked off the front while Pogacar was
chasing back from earlier bike changes which occurred with 120km to go. That he
made it back to take over at the head of race as Van Der Poel had his turn of
misfortune, may not have surprised us, but clearly the effort ate into his reserves.
Pogacar had hoped that victory in Roubaix would complete his set of five monuments to
go with his victories in Milan San Remo Tour of Flanders, Liege-Bastogne-Liege
and the Tour of Lombardy. It was not to be.
It was Never
Say Die Van Aert who at last dealt Pog the killer blow, so denying the phenomenon
of the Tour de France and Classic road races from taking a cherished prize.
During his career
Van Aert has won over fifty professional road wins including ten stage
victories at the Tour de France betweem 2019 and 2025, plus the green jersey of points classification in 2022.. He won the 2023 Tour of Britain.
He also won Milan–San Remo in 2020 and was third this year. The media declared him to
be the most complete cyclist of his generation".
His rivalry with
Mathieu van der Poel in cyclo-has seen one of the greatest
rivalries in the sport.
