"In my dreams and in my preparation I did this sprint so many times..." - Wout Van Aert in tears following Paris-Roubaix win

Wout Van Aert has won the 2026 edition of Paris-Roubaix, his second ever monument win, but his first one in the cobbled classics. The Team Visma | Lease a Bike had a years-long pursuit of Paris-Roubaix, a race where he's been very unlucky in the past, but where he managed to beat Tadej Pogacar, Mathieu van der Poel et al. this time around.

"It means everything to me. It's been a goal since 2018, when I first did this race. It's now eight years ago I lost a teammate Michael Goolaerts. Ever since it's been my goal to come here and point my finger to the sky," Van Aert said in a post-race interview. "This victory is for Michael but specially for his family, Marianne, Christophe... And all my friends and teammates in my previous team".

But Van Aert was not the only rider with massive stakes on the line. Mathieu van der Poel could achieve a record-breaking fourth consecutive victory and wanted revenge after being dropped by Tadej Pogacar at Milano-Sanremo and the Tour of Flanders; Whilst Pogacar himself had the chance to complete his monument list - and could place himself in position to win all five this season.

The pressure was on for everyone in the Hell of the North. And Van Aert felt it, suffering from two mechanicals - one early in the cobbled sectors and the other with 71 kilometers to go, which saw him lose over 30 seconds to the leading group at the time. But his bad luck only put him on par with his main rivals, who had their own massive obstacles this Sunday.

"It was a really tough day and ever since then in some kind of way I was so many times unlucky in this race but it also brought me experience. Even today when luck was not on my side I kept believing it and finally the reward is there".

Van Aert attacked on Mons-en-Pévèle, after also making the initial selection on the Trouée d'Arenberg. It was a race that was tackled with moree confidence than previous years, and he had the legs to then also follow Tadej Pogacar who was on his own mission to drop the Belgian.

In 2023 he punctured on the Carrefour de l'Arbre, in 2024 he was injured and forced to skip the race, whilst in 2025 the level difference to van der Poel and Pogacar made it seem like it was mission impossible for Van Aert to win a cobbled monument again.

"I did stop believing a lot of times," he admits. "But the next time I always woke up and fought for it again. There's no more beautiful way then to go to the line with the World Champion. He's a true champion and gave me such a hard time... Beating him in the sprint, mano-a-mano, is very special to me".

It was a tearful finale, with a tribute to Goolaerts, and a lay down in the Roubaix velodrome which was the release of years in a chase that looked less and less likely to be successful.

"When I entered the velodrome I was just sticking to my plan. In my dreams and in my preparation I did this sprint so many times already so I knew exactly what to do. The hardest part was coming to the velodrome I would say, there were so many attacks of Tadej, so many times where I was on the limit to stay in his wheel, it was all worth it..."

Van Aert is now a Paris-Roubaix winner, perhaps the biggest triumph of his entire career. "It's such a chaotic race, everybody coming to the line has his own story and that's why it's so beautiful. Can be hard but on a day like this it's the best race there is".