00:03Welcome to the 123rd edition of the Hell of the North.
00:07Paris-Roubaix and its famous cobblestones will provide the backdrop to the latest battle between the two monument masters,
00:13Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel.
00:16The Dutchman is going for his fourth straight win to match the all-time record,
00:20but he knows the world champion will give him more than a run for his money.
00:26I think he showed already enough that he's really strong and also showed that he's very strong on cobbles as
00:32well.
00:33So, yeah, like I said, we look forward to it with the team as well and we are ready for
00:38it.
00:41Pogacar is also chasing history as he looks to complete his career clean sweep of all five monuments.
00:49Always the best victory is to come solo, especially here in Roubaix, I think.
00:54So, yeah, that's the dream but you never know here in this race it's quite difficult to achieve that.
01:01So, we'll see. I will try to enjoy my race and do my best.
01:07Pogacar and van der Poel have shared the last 11 monuments,
01:10but if things don't go their way today,
01:12there are plenty of other top riders who would love to take home the cobblestone trophy.
01:17Today and Mathieu are adding another layer to these classics and like we saw in Flanders,
01:26it was very difficult to make a good plan around that,
01:29but I think in Roubaix it should be possible to play a bit more with my teammates
01:35and that's definitely our goal.
01:38I know it's really tough and especially with the guys at the start line and also it's, you know,
01:45the race didn't treat me super well so far, but we still believe in it and we still dream about
01:51winning.
01:53258 kilometres including almost 55 over the cobbles.
01:57The rarely used sector around Briastre makes a comeback before the famous five-star passages,
02:02Truet de Rombert, Mont-Saint-Pauvel and Carrefour de l'Arbre.
02:05Despite a bit of rain overnight, the riders were greeted by dry and pleasant conditions this morning.
02:17Well, unsurprisingly there was a fast and furious start,
02:20with a host of early attacks and an average speed of nearly 54 kilometres an hour.
02:25Lots of teams tried but failed to establish a breakaway,
02:28so the peloton was mainly altogether for this tailwind charge run of nearly 100 kilometres to the first cobbles.
02:36There was a brief split at one point, with most of the favourites caught in a second chase group.
02:41Tade Pigaccia, meanwhile, was out at the back after a nature break,
02:45but no panic for the world champion, also with Filippo Ganna here.
02:48They soon caught up to the main bunch as the front group was reeled back in and things settled down
02:53again.
02:55No breakaway then, and the big hitters all up towards the front,
02:59as they prepared to hit the cobbles at sector 30, counting down to one.
03:03The real Paris-Roubaix was about to start.
03:08Welcome to hell. 2,200 metres now, in Troisville, Aonchi.
03:16Well, Mike Turnerson, a former winner of the Paris-Roubaix under-23 race,
03:20made a move on that first sector as the machines began to suffer.
03:25Mechanicals for Mads Pedersen and Wout van Aert,
03:27although neither man lost too much time.
03:33Turnerson was quickly caught as UAE Team Emirates XRG began to really up the tempo for Pigaccia,
03:40absolutely shredding the peloton.
03:43The front group was soon down to around 40 or 50 riders,
03:46with Pigaccia looking in total control.
03:49Until, on sector 22, he suddenly wasn't.
03:55Pigaccia has suddenly started to go backwards.
03:58A puncture for Pigaccia with his team car a long way back,
04:02so he was forced to take a bike from Shimano Neutral Service.
04:05Alpesyn Premier Tech and Visma Lisa bike putting the pressure on,
04:08as Pigaccia finally got a bike change over four kilometres later.
04:15The world champion not looking too impressed,
04:18but he'd only lost around a minute to the front group, and the chase was on.
04:22With help from his UAE team mates,
04:24Pigaccia got back before the first five-star sector, the Trouille d'Arembert.
04:31Well, something always happens in the Arenberg forest,
04:34and this year was no exception, as the other big race favourite,
04:37Mathieu van der Poel, also had a mechanical.
04:42Van der Poel, he's going backwards, he's got a problem.
04:47The reigning three-time winner stranded a long way from his team car,
04:51and set to lose almost two minutes.
04:54Van Aert, Pigaccia and Pedersen were all in the front group now,
04:57along with Stefan Bissiger, Laurence Pithy, Jasper Steuven,
05:00and Van Aert's team mate, Christoph Laporte.
05:05Ganner and Jordi Meus would soon catch up, to make it nine men at the front.
05:12Well, van der Poel giving it his absolute all,
05:14and that two-minute deficit was down to just 30 seconds,
05:17as they entered the final 60 kilometres.
05:20Up at the front, van Aert perhaps sensed the danger,
05:24and attacked into sector 12.
05:28And while van Aert decides it's time to accelerate, big move.
05:34The Belgian opening up a small gap,
05:37but he was soon joined by Pigaccia and Pedersen,
05:39with the rest washing away.
05:41And even Pedersen couldn't handle the pace.
05:44The Dane going backwards, to leave van Aert and Pigaccia together at the front.
05:50The irrepressible van der Poel would eventually catch that group of dropped riders,
05:54with Pithy unfortunately crashing on Mont-Saint-Pauvel.
06:00Pogaccia and van Aert collaborating well to keep the van der Poel group at arm's length.
06:04They had a good chance of going to the Velodrome together,
06:07as long as they avoided any mishaps.
06:10The final five-star sector, the Carrefour de l'Arbre, began with just 17k remaining.
06:16Pogaccia willing to take a few risks to shake off his Belgian rival.
06:20Throws it into the next turn!
06:22Whoa!
06:24How did he hold it up?
06:27Another hairy moment on a day that was full of them,
06:30that Pogaccia and van Aert would take it all the way to the Velodrome,
06:33which was absolutely bouncing.
06:35Now, who would win this incredible race?
06:41Wow! The atmosphere is incredible. Pogaccia and van Aert after 5 hours 15 minutes.
06:48This is absolutely sensational. The roar from the crowd and these two riders now look at how tightly poised
06:56Wout van Aert is. He doesn't want to lead this one out.
07:02And you can see as they get the bell here, the world champion is going to come through the line
07:07with one lap remaining.
07:08And Wout van Aert wants to win Paris-Roubaix.
07:11But Thadde Pogaccia, he wants to seal the deal and win all five monuments.
07:16Here we go now. Get set. Is it the world champion? Is it Wout van Aert?
07:22Is Pogaccia going to clinch all five monuments? Pogaccia nervously twitching.
07:30Face right and left. Here goes Wout van Aert.
07:32Wout van Aert with a massive acceleration.
07:35Van Aert starts to go away.
07:37And Wout van Aert is powering his way towards the most incredible victory in Paris-Roubaix.
07:45Wout van Aert! Wonderful!
07:49I cannot believe the bike race we've just seen.
07:53That is absolutely sensational. He's done it.
07:58Jasper Stuyven finishes on the podium in third place.
08:02He's done it!
08:03He's done it!
08:07He's done it!
08:11He's done it!
08:11He's done it!
08:13He's done it!
08:15He's done it!
08:15He's done it!
08:15After years of trying, years of near misses, years of disappointment, Wout van Aert has finally
08:21done it.
08:22The Belgian has won one of the major cobbled classics that have eluded him for so long, beating
08:27the world champion at the end of a 123rd edition that will live long in the memory.
08:38It was a really tough day, and ever since then, in some kind of way, I was so many times
08:47unlucky in this race.
08:50But it brought me also experience, so even today when luck was not on my side, I kept believing
08:57it, and finally the reward is there.
09:02Van Aert dedicating an emotional victory to his former teammate Michael Gulartz, who died
09:07at this race in 2018.
09:10Pogaccia settling for second place once again, with Stuyven in third and van der Poel fourth.
09:16A second monument win for Van Aert after Milan-San Remo 2020, Pogaccia will have to wait another
09:22year to try to complete the set.
09:24This was Paris-Roubaix 2026, the fastest ever, which more than lived up to its billing as the
09:30best and the most gruelling one day race of the season.
09:33Join us again next time, and thanks for watching.
