“It’s a victory for cycling” - British pundit admits TNT studio all wanted Wout van Aert to beat Tadej Pogacar at Paris-Roubaix

For all the unpredictability of Paris-Roubaix, one detail from inside the TNT Sports studio offers a revealing insight into how the race was felt beyond the cobbles.

Speaking on The Gruppetto with commentator Rob Hatch, Matt Stephens admitted that those covering the race had quietly aligned behind one outcome. “I think it’s fair to say, even off camera before the show, before commentating, all of us would have wanted a Wout van Aert victory,” he said.

Alongside presenter Orla Chennaoui and fellow pundits Sean Kelly and Adam Blythe, Stephens’ reaction reflected more than just personal preference. It spoke to the wider sense of what the result represented.

“I think it’s a victory for cycling,” he added. “It’s not a redemptive win, it’s just an important win because he’s such a class act on the bike and off the bike.”

That sentiment stands in contrast to how the race had been framed beforehand.

As Hatch himself acknowledged, much of the pre-race focus had centred on Tadej Pogacar. “What a story. All the talk beforehand about Pogacar, we were all guilty of it for obvious reasons. The editorial was there. Van Aert didn’t really figure in that conversation,” Hatch said.

It was a reflection of the expectations surrounding the world champion’s ambitions on the cobbles, but one that quickly shifted as the race unfolded. “We knew he’d been building well, but what a race and what a winner.”

For Wout van Aert, the result carried a weight that extended beyond the finish line in Roubaix.

Stephens pointed to the broader journey that led to this moment, highlighting both form and resilience across the spring. “He’s just chipped away this season, got better and better and better,” he said. “It’s his second Monument win, but he had to go so deep today. He had his fair share of bad luck as well, but just the story leading to this point…”

Moments earlier in the campaign had already underlined that standing within the peloton. “That’s the thing about what we saw the other day, wasn’t it? Mads Pedersen coming and congratulating him when he was caught by Ganna at Dwars door Vlaanderen,” Stephens added. “So yeah… it just feels right for Wout to be a winner of Paris-Roubaix.”

That shift, from expectation to outcome, is what defines this edition. Inside the studio and on the road, the story evolved in real time. And by the end, the sense of what the result meant extended far beyond the race itself.