Three Quick Thoughts: Paris-Roubaix

A few quick post-race thoughts from today's electric edition of Paris-Roubaix

Mathieu van der Poel won his third consecutive Paris-Roubaix after ripping an elite front group to shreds with multiple searing attacks and capitalizing on a rare mistake from Tadej Pogačar, who crashed into a ditch after whittling the group down to the two best riders in the world. Despite a valiant effort, Pogačar was never able to get back on terms with Van der Poel, and the Roubaix debutant rolled in bruised and battered to finish second ahead of Mads Pedersen, who rounded out the all-World Champion podium after winning the sprint from the chase group. With Van der Poel joining the elite tier of riders to win three editions in just five starts, and Pogačar holding his own against one of the best cobbled riders of all time deep into the race, today’s race was an instant classic, as it showcased some of the best riders in the history of the sport duking it out at the peak of their Classics powers across some of cycling’s most unique terrain.

Paris-Roubaix 2025 Top Five
1) Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +0
2) Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +1’18
3) Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) +2’11
4) Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) +2’11
5) Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +2’11

Below are a few quick thoughts about the ride before tomorrow’s full race breakdown.