The dominance of Pogacar and Van der Poel destroys the fun? "It mainly frustrates Van Aert and, by extension, the entire peloton"

Cycling
Tuesday, 15 April 2025 at 03:30
woutvanaert tadejpogacar mathieuvanderpoel tourofflanders
Paris-Roubaix was again a two-man show. Behind, the battle for podium featured also Wout van Aert who, using the new Gravaa tire-pressure system, hoped to raise his stocks against the superhumans. But eventually it was only a fourth place...
"Wout van Aert and Visma | Lease a Bike hoped the much-discussed Gravaa system would give them an advantage on the tricky cobblestones of Paris-Roubaix. It didn't work out that way," concluded Jan Bakelants in HLN. "The system didn't fail, but as Van Aert candidly admitted after the race, the legs still make the law."
"This Paris-Roubaix will not be historic for the breakthrough of technological innovation but confirms the hierarchy of the spring: a clash of the titans between two phenomena that are taking cycling to a new level. Their dominance is reminiscent of the years of Tom Boonen and Fabio Cancellara, but even more overwhelming for the competition," he continues.
While Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel are doing their own thing off the front, the other favourites behind may feel a bit helpless. Especially Van der Poel's long-time rival Wout van Aert: "That frustrates Van Aert and, by extension, the entire peloton."
Bakelants points out that the Belgian will eventually find his winning pace later this year with the legs he'd shown: "Van Aert consistently performs excellently - podium places in the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, and the Omloop were his share in recent years - but the highest step remains out of reach in the cobblestone monuments when the two supernatural talents start. If they are in top condition and are not unlucky, Van Aert will find it difficult to win this spring."
Bakelants, therefore, sees things somberly for Monument hunter Van Aert, but: "Don't get me wrong: Van Aert will win many races. His body is at its peak in the summer. That has always been the case in the Tour or his rock-solid Strade Bianche in August of that Covid-19 year..."
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4 Comments
abstractengineer 15 April 2025 at 15:34+ 3140

Roubaix is a race where luck plays an important part. Pedersen was not distanced, he had a double puncture. He was still the third strongest

paultryan2002 15 April 2025 at 12:01+ 280

If other riders just give up when VDP and Pog turn up to race why bother at all. Sad to hear this attitude and there is the problem riders saying we have lost before the start . We have seen loads of time both riders can be beaten. Less neg and more positive.

Mistermaumau 15 April 2025 at 14:13+ 3552

Rock/hard place, still need the points.

slappers66 15 April 2025 at 12:01+ 227

I always thought the very best in a sport drove each other and their closest rivals to be better, Tadej and MVDP are driving each other to be better does that mean the rest have given up? To hear many of the pundits you'd think that was the case, they need to drag themselves up to the level to beat MVDP and Tadej because the two of them are not going to wait

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