Cycling is therefore not dead yet. By winning for the first time in his career at Paris-Roubaix on Sunday, under the nose of Tadej Pogacar, Wout Van Aert gave some hope to cycling fans who were beginning to despair at seeing the Slovenian leave no crumbs for anyone. The fantastic race on Sunday, however, came to remind him that the Hell of the North was definitely not a Monument like any other, to the point of putting a big blow on him, who seemed on a mission this year to win his first Paris-Roubaix.
“Right away I feel a little destroyed,” he said after the race. I’m proud of the whole team, I had to change bikes twice, a lot of things happened, it was a difficult race but I managed to get back into the leading group and follow Wout when he attacked. He was very strong today and he deserves this victory. But I remain proud and happy with what I did. »
A defeat that will have to be quickly digested
At the front of the race for a good part of the day, despite some almost inevitable mechanical problems on Paris-Roubaix, in an attempt to set a furious pace, “Poggi” for once did not have the legs of fire that he was hoping for. Especially since he had quite a client on his back and in his wheel in the person of Van Aert.
“When I was with Wout I didn’t have enough freshness in my legs to let him go on the cobbles,” he explains. Then when I found myself in the sprint with him, I knew it was 99% impossible but I still had hope. But when I started sprinting my legs didn’t follow, they were like spaghetti. »
The ogre of the hills will therefore need at least a third participation if he finally wishes to include Hell of the North in his hunting list. It remains to be seen whether he will have the mental strength for it. On Sunday, this left doubt. “Back to the future to win?” I can’t say now, maybe yes… Two weeks ago I would have said that it was Milan-San Remo the hardest Monument to win but here still finishing second… It’s just my second participation, I need time to analyze and we’ll see. » Come on, see you next year.
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