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,
00:14Tadej 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, yeah, enough that he's really strong and also showed that he's very strong on cobbles
00:32as well.
00:33So, yeah, like I said, we look forward to it with the team as well and we are ready for
00:39it.
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.
00:55So, 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, but 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 and that's definitely
01:37our goal.
01:38I know it's really tough and especially with the guys at the start line and also it's, you know, the
01:45race didn't treat me super well so far.
01:49But we still believe in it and we still dream about winning.
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.
02:06Despite 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,
02:21with 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,
02:29so 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.
02:42Tade 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
02:54again.
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 at 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,
03:28although neither man lost too much time.
03:34Turnerson 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,
03:47with 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.
04:16The 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 Aremberg forest,
04:34and this year was no exception, as the other big race favourite,
04:38Mathieu 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,
04:52and 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, Christophe 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,
05:15and that two-minute deficit was down to just 30 seconds,
05:18as they entered the final 60 kilometres.
05:21Up 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.
06:00Pigaccia 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!
06:25How did he hold it up?
06:28Another hairy moment on a day that was full of them,
06:30but 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!
06:45Pogaccia and van Aert after 5 hours 15 minutes.
06:49This is absolutely sensational, the roar from the crowd,
06:53and these two riders now look at how tightly poised
06:56Wout van Aert is.
06:58He doesn't want to lead this one out,
07:02and you can see as they get the bell here,
07:04the world champion is going to come through the line with one lap remaining,
07:09and Wout van Aert wants to win Paris-Roubaix,
07:11but Tadej Pogaccia, he wants to seal the deal
07:14and win all five monuments.
07:16Here we go now. Get set!
07:19Is it the world champion? Is it Wout van Aert?
07:22Is Pogaccia going to clinch all five monuments?
07:27Pogaccia nervously twitching face right and left.
07:31Here 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
07:40the most incredible victory in Paris-Roubaix!
07:45Wout van Aert! Wonderful!
07:49I cannot believe the bike race we've just seen!
07:54That is absolutely sensational!
07:57He's done it!
07:58Jasper Stuyven finishes on the podium in third place.
08:02It's a win!
08:03It's a win!
08:09It's a win!
08:11It's a win!
08:12It's a win!
08:12You have won!
08:15After years of trying, years of near misses,
08:19years of disappointment,
08:20Wout van Aert has finally done it.
08:22The Belgian has won one of the major cobbled classics that have eluded him for so long,
08:27beating the world champion at the end of a 123rd edition that will live long in the memory.
08:39A really tough day.
08:40And, yeah, ever since then, in some kind of way, I was so many times unlucky in this race.
08:50But it brought me also experience, so even today when luck was not on my side, I kept believing it.
08:58And finally the reward is there.
09:02Van Aert dedicating an emotional victory to his former teammate Michael Goulart, who died at this race in 2018.
09:10Pogac are 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,
09:21Pogac will have to wait another year to try to complete the set.
09:24This was Paris-Roubaix 2026, the fastest ever,
09:28which more than lived up to its billing as the best and the most gruelling one-day race of the
09:32season.
09:33Join us again next time, and thanks for watching.
09:43We'll see you next time, and we'll see you next time, and we'll see you next time, and we'll see
09:43you next time, and we'll see you next time, and we'll see you next time, and we'll see you next
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09:44we'll see you next time, and we'll see you next time, and we'll see you next time, and we'll see
09:44you next time, and we'll see you next time, and we'll see you next time, and we'll see you next
09:44time, and we'll see you next time, and we'll see you next time, and we'll see you next time, and
09:44we'll see you next time, and we'll see you next time, and we'll see you next time, and we'll see
09:46you next time, and we'll see you next time, and we'll see you next time, and we'll see you next
09:48time, and we'll see you next
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