“He had that sprint completely mapped out” - Three-time Roubaix podium finisher says Van Aert had Pogacar beaten before velodrome sprint

For Juan Antonio Flecha, the decisive moment of Paris-Roubaix 2026 did not begin in the velodrome. It was already in motion long before Wout van Aert and Tadej Pogacar arrived there together.

The former Roubaix podium finisher believes the difference came down to something far more precise than strength alone. “He had that sprint completely mapped out,” Flecha said in his post-race analysis, pointing to the Belgian’s clarity of thought in the final moments of one of the most chaotic editions in recent memory.

Paris-Roubaix 2026 was defined by disruption. Punctures, crashes and constant shifts in momentum left even the strongest riders scrambling to stay in contention, and Flecha was quick to underline just how unusual the race had been.

“It was a beautiful, spectacular race… with a more than deserved victory for Wout van Aert,” he said, before highlighting a telling detail. “There was a statistic showing that this was the edition where the most punctures affected the favourites.”

That context matters. In a race where so much goes wrong, winning is not just about having the legs, but about surviving everything that happens along the way.

Flecha’s analysis centres on a point that often gets overlooked. The sprint in Roubaix may decide the winner, but it rarely tells the whole story on its own. “It’s a race where… sometimes you neglect how to approach the sprint in the velodrome… and that’s the question that gives you top marks,” he explained, drawing on his own experience of racing there.

That idea framed his reading of the 2026 finale. By the time Van Aert and Pogacar entered the velodrome, the difference between them was already taking shape.

Flecha also pointed to the execution itself, identifying where the sprint was won and lost. “Pogacar started very well… but then he didn’t make use of that advantageous position,” he said, explaining how the Slovenian failed to fully exploit the banking of the velodrome.

Van Aert, on the other hand, read the situation perfectly and delivered at exactly the right moment. “He had that sprint completely mapped out.”

For Flecha, the wider lesson of Paris-Roubaix remains unchanged. “You can’t start making excuses for everyone who had problems… it’s normal that things happen,” he said, reinforcing the idea that unpredictability is part of the race itself.

Handling those moments is not separate from winning Roubaix. It is the reason riders win it.

In the end, Flecha’s verdict is not about a single sprint, but about everything that leads into it. “The hardest part is getting to the velodrome,” he said, underlining the reality that by the time the race reaches that point, only a handful of riders are still in a position to win.

Van Aert arrived there with a plan. Pogacar arrived having spent the race trying to create one. Only one of them needed to think twice.