Aurélien Canot, Media365, published on Monday April 14, 2025 at 10:08 a.m.
Even if his fall less than forty kilometers from the finish has practically ruined all his chances of depriving Mathieu van der Poel of a third consecutive coronation, Sunday on Paris-Roubaix, Tadej Pogacar, who participated for the first time in the race, was not looking for an excuse after the arrival. The Slovenian even seemed rather happy to have finished 2nd behind the untouchable Dutch.
The first Paris-Roubaix of Tadej Pogacar officially ended when the Slovenian champion, probably arrived too quickly in this turn, came out too wide and fell while Mathieu Van der Poel flew towards a third consecutive victory on northern hell. A misadventure – which occurred 38 kilometers from the finish – all the more regrettable since the triple winner of the Tour de France had resisted before finding himself in the signs to be able to restart to his number 1 rival and then double winner outgoing only. For everyone, the fight of the two titans would have continued without this fall, perhaps even until the arrival. Afterwards, “Pogi” was not looking for an excuse, however, that he was trying to use the presence of a motorcycle at the stop in this turn to justify his piste. “I tried to attack, to follow the motorcycles. I did not see the turn arrive so quickly and it was too late to brake and I fell. (…) The motorcycle? I think it had an influence on my fall. When you are fully and that there is a motorcycle that does not turn, we can think that there is no shift. But I should not have it, I don’t want it.
Pogacar: “I thought I could come back”
The only regret for the leader of the UAE Emirates team was not to have managed to return to the wheels of “VDP” after this setback. The Dutchman, however deprived of battery and therefore instructions from the atrium of his sports directors throughout the final, very quickly created a gap, and who never stopped increasing. “I thought I could come back (…) I was always around fifteen seconds and my brakes were rubbing forward. It disturbed me so I started to slow down. I wanted to change still bicycle, but I exploded. I just wanted to see the finish line as quickly as possible,” analyzed the best runner in the world, almost satisfied to have finished 2nd behind the master of the place, still probably unheat The hardest races that (he has never run. ” “Of course we came for the victory, but in the end Mathieu was just stronger, admitted Pogacar. It is not lucky, but it is Roubaix. In any case, it would have been difficult to win, I am happy with second place”. As for whether we will see it again on northern hell in the future, it will be necessary to wait. But we can think that this will be the case. “With more experience, I hope to live things differently in the future”. From there to give an appointment for a next edition, there may be just one step.
