After Pogacar's crash, Van der Poel, despite water bottle thrown at his head and flat tire, wins third straight Paris-Roubaix

Mathieu van der Poel has won Paris-Roubaix for the third year in a row. The Dutchman from Alpecin-Deceuninck once again arrived solo at the vélodrome with a comfortable lead after his breakaway companion, Tadej Pogacar, crashed. The world champion chased hard for a long time but had to settle for second place. Mads Pedersen won the sprint for third, ahead of Wout van Aert and Florian Vermeersch.

It was a grey morning in Compiègne. Heavy rain had fallen during the night, and even during team presentations, the skies weren’t entirely dry. Concerns grew about the state of the cobblestones, and later in the race, those worries were confirmed: it turned into a wet, muddy mess, especially in the latter parts of the route. Thankfully, the skies cleared up for the rest of the day, but the riders still had to endure slick, treacherous cobbles.

That didn’t dampen the spirits, though. The peloton rolled out for the grueling 260-kilometer challenge. The first 90 kilometers were entirely on paved roads, where the battle for the breakaway kicked off in explosive fashion. The first hour was ferocious, with a flurry of attacks. When the dust settled, eight riders were up the road: Kim Heiduk (INEOS Grenadiers), Oier Lazkano (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Markus Hoelgaard (Uno-X Mobility), Jonas Rutsch (Intermarché-Wanty), Max Walker (EF Education-EasyPost), Jasper De Buyst (Lotto), Rory Townsend (Q36.5 Pro Cycling), and Abram Stockman (Unibet Tietema Rockets) were given some leeway by the peloton.

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Chaos before and on the first cobblestone sector

And so the race headed toward the first cobbles. Tension was high, and problems started even before the riders reached the sector. Wout van Aert, Matej Mohoric, Jasper Philipsen, and Jasper Stuyven were among those who crashed in the approach. While the first few managed to rejoin the race later on, Stuyven wasn’t seen again for the rest of the day—suggesting more serious consequences. The cobbles, which were quite muddy, claimed another victim: Filippo Ganna suffered a flat tire. The INEOS Grenadiers leader had to wait a long time for assistance and was forced into chase mode.

He found himself in a group that included Philipsen, Mohoric, and Dylan van Baarle (whose partner Pauline Ferrand-Prévot had taken the women’s title just the day before). It was a long chase, but eventually, the group managed to reconnect with the peloton. For a brief moment, calm returned to the bunch. Well—“calm” is always relative in Paris-Roubaix. The nervous energy never truly disappears, but there were no major casualties or breakaways leading up to the Forest of Arenberg, which—at roughly 100 kilometers from the finish—was expected to be the first truly decisive challenge of the Hell of the North.

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War before, on and after the Forest of Arenberg

But the battle had already begun before the Forest. On the Haveluy à Wallers sector, Mads Pedersen made the first move, followed by Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel. They tore the peloton apart, which momentarily regrouped just before entering the forest. In the Arenberg, Pogacar took the lead, before Van der Poel took over. The race broke apart again, and Wout van Aert, who had been on their wheel, simply couldn’t hold on. It wasn’t the Belgian’s day, he had to let the strongest riders go. It was the defending champion who personally caused the decisive split.

With a massive acceleration, Van der Poel rode away, not on a cobbled sector, but just after one. Pogacar managed to close the gap with great effort, followed by Pedersen, Philipsen, and the powerful Stefan Bissegger (Decathlon AG2R). The rest couldn’t keep up, and a very strong lead group was formed. Once again, Alpecin-Deceuninck had both the first and second place finishers from the past editions up front. A perfect scenario! The chasing group, which included Van Aert, Josh Tarling (INEOS), Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), Mike Teunissen (Astana), and Tim van Dijke (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), was already trailing by more than 50 seconds. The strongest riders were at the front!

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Again ideal situation Alpecin-Deceuninck

The gap to the chasers kept growing, and the leading five began to truly believe in a successful outcome. On the four-star cobbled sector of Tilloy à Sars-et-Rosières, Pogacar once again launched an attack. Pedersen tried to respond but immediately suffered a puncture, falling all the way back to the Van Aert group. This also opened a gap behind the world champion. Van der Poel quickly closed it, and Philipsen managed to rejoin a bit later. Bissegger also dropped off, apparently with a flat tire, leaving three riders at the front.

The strongest men were now leading, and they continued to widen the gap. Pogacar took the front, even though he was up against two riders from the same team. On Mons-en-Pévèle, the penultimate five-star sector, he attacked again, but Van der Poel countered. Philipsen cracked, and his teammate backed off, but the world champion noticed and attacked once more. The Belgian was completely dropped in dramatic fashion, and suddenly we had the dream duel between the two standout riders of the spring. Van der Poel briefly sat on Pogacar’s wheel, but once it became clear Philipsen wouldn’t return, he moved to the front.

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Together, the two rivals went on the attack. It seemed like a fairly even battle, with Pogacar especially eager to drop his companion. He was very active in doing so, ultimately even a bit too much. In one of his efforts, he misjudged a corner on a cobblestone sector and awkwardly crashed. He wasn’t hurt, but the Slovenian needed a moment to get his bike going again. He trailed by 20 seconds but launched a fierce chase. The two warriors were closely matched.

Van der Poel was alone at the front but had more to deal with than just the fatigue. On a cobbled sector, a Visma | Lease a Bike water bottle was hurled at his face at full speed. Thankfully, he stayed on his bike, but it was yet another instance of someone throwing something at him. In the end, it didn’t hinder him much during the chase—especially since Pogacar later had to change bikes. His chain had snapped, and just like that, Pogacar had to close a gap of 45 seconds.

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Van der Poel gets a flat on Carrefour de l'Arbre

A grimace was visible on the face of the world champion, who lost significant time on Camphin-en-Pévèle and Carrefour de l'Arbre. Van der Poel was unleashed, but on the final five-star cobbled sector, the two-time winner suffered a puncture. However, his lead over his closest chaser was so large that a bike change didn’t affect him. By the end of the final five-star sector, he still had over a minute on Pogacar. The Slovenian even had to watch out for the fast-approaching chasers: Van Aert, Pedersen, and Florian Vermeersch were closing in at a worrying pace.

It was a tough finish for the man in second place, but not for the leader. He was gone, storming to his third consecutive victory in Paris-Roubaix. Pogacar ultimately had more than enough left to secure second place, helped by teammate Vermeersch, though Vermeersch lost the sprint for third to the unlucky Pedersen, who finished ahead of Van Aert.

Results Paris-Roubaix 2025

Read also

🎥 Pogacar (bleeding after 3-ton crash) and Van Aert (bleeding knee) crash, Pedersen and Ganna puncture, Teunissen crashes

🎥 Van der Poel hit in the face with Visma | Lease a Bike water bottle during dramatic Paris-Roubaix finale

Vanmarcke tested Visma’s tire pressure system and sees the benefits — but also the disadvantages: "If I were an opponent..."

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