Paris-Roubaix is a cruel race. Perhaps the cruellest of them all, with its fearsome pavé and constant bout with Lady Luck.
After years of attempting to pull off the biggest of all cobbled victories, Wout van Aert finally banished years of bad luck to triumph inside the Roubaix Veldrome on Sunday’s edition of the race – catharsis at last for the Belgian. By taking the win, Van Aert claimed his first cobbled Monument and his first top-tier Classic since Milan-San Remo in August 2020.
Still overwhelmed with emotion, we caught up with Wout van Aert just hours after he claimed a first Paris-Roubaix title.
‘I was up against the best guy in the whole peloton’
Coming into Paris-Roubaix, Van Aert’s form was on an upward trajectory. He had finished in third at Milan-San Remo, then second at Dwars door Vlaanderen in a cruel finale that saw him swamped on the line by Filippo Ganna. His fourth place ride the weekend before at the Tour of Flanders pointed towards an upturn in fortune, but he was often overshadowed on the run-up to the race by Tadej Pogačar and Mathieu van der Poel, who have hoovered up every Monument title since the spring of 2024.
On Sunday though, Van Aert broke free with Pogačar with 54km remaining. That moment would prove decisive as the two went clear, never to be seen again by the chasers, including three-time champion Mathieu van der Poel, who suffered two punctures on the five-star sector in Arenberg.
‘I knew I had a good chance when Tadej and I went up the road,’ Van Aert recalls. ‘Tadej made a good attack on the first bends on Mons-en-Pévèle. I could answer it, but it was a moment of realisation that I was up against the best guy in the whole peloton. That was the moment when I decided to stick to his wheel on the cobblestones, so I didn’t get attacked from behind.
‘When I truly believed I had a chance was after Carrefour de l’Arbre, when we were still together. From then on, I really believed, but to be honest, I had that feeling when we first broke free.’
‘To finish it off in this way, in a sprint against Tadej Pogačar in that beautiful world champion’s jersey. I think there’s no better way to do it. It’s definitely a dream come true.’
‘Honestly, I think I’ve been unlucky in this race’
Van Aert has raced a total of seven Paris-Roubaixs. Over those years, the Belgian has been faced with crashes, untimely mechanicals and illness while on the road. Before the weekend, his best finish was second place back in 2022. The only spot missing in his palmarès was the top step of the podium.
‘Honestly, I think I’ve been unlucky in this race,’ Van Aert told the press. ‘It would be a nice story to say that I was feeling much better this year than before, but the truth is that I felt stronger in previous years. Circumstances just weren’t on my side then.
‘This time, I had some points of bad luck, but experience taught me to move on. However, the boys were really on it during the race. Christophe [Laporte] definitely played a big role in disrupting that chasing group.’
Remembering Michael Goolaerts
The Belgian’s victory was bittersweet. As he defeated the four-time yellow jersey winner, he pointed to the sky in tribute to Michael Goolaerts, his former teammate who suffered a cardiac arrest mid-race during the 2018 Paris-Roubaix, which was Van Aert’s debut, and died in hospital later that day.
‘The first time I did this race [2018], it was a cruel day. We lost our teammate. Ever since then, my goal has been to win the race and point my finger at the sky to Michael. He’s often on my mind, especially at this time of year. This year even more, because this was the first edition since my first that we passed the [Briastre] sector where he died. I had goosebumps passing there.’
‘I think he gave me extra power,’ he continued. ‘It’s a beautiful thing that I can dedicate this victory to his family.’
He also disclosed that he will send the winner’s bouquet to the Goolaerts family.
‘There’s no better way to do it’
Despite Visma-Lease a Bike’s superteam status and long history, the men’s squad had failed to win a cobbled Monument up until the weekend. For Wout van Aert, the burden has always been on him to deliver at the Queen of the Classics.
‘It feels like a big relief to finally win it. I know it’s been the dream of our CEO [Richard Plugge] to win this race and I was always the one who had to do it. So I feel incredibly proud to finish off not just one year, but many years of work.
‘We make so many sacrifices to get to this level, to fight back, and target this race every year,’ he continued, alluding to the number of injuries he’s battled with over recent years. ‘Winning this race basically means everything to me.’
‘Wout deserves this victory’
Van Aert is a popular rider among fans, but also within the pro peloton. Following his victory, there was a shared sense of admiration for the Belgian, who had been targeting the victory here for over half a decade.
World champion Tadej Pogačar was quick to congratulate the Visma rider once he entered the media scrum at the Roubaix Velodrome.
‘Wout deserves this victory for how he always comes back from every setback,’ Pogačar said. ‘He never gives up and he should be a hero for many young kids because of how he rides.’
Third-place finisher Jasper Stuyven also shared his praise for Van Aert.
‘I’m very happy for him. Everyone on his trade team, and those who had been with him in the national team, know what kind of person he is and what kind of athlete he is. He’s had a lot of bad luck the past year, so I’m happy he finally did it.’
‘This is such a chaotic race,’ Van Aert concluded. ‘Everybody at the finish line has his own story, and that’s what makes it so beautiful. It can be hard, but on a day like this, it is the best race that exists.’