Tom Boonen on Paris-Roubaix: "Simply put, I don't think Wout was better than Mathieu"

Paris-Roubaix witnessed another battle between Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert. The two looked, once again, almost equally matched, and it was a late puncture that decided the outcome of the race. Tom Boonen believes there was little van Aert could do in that situation.

"I stand by it: if Mathieu van der Poel rides away from there with Wout, Mathieu will not ride either. Then Jasper Philipsen is behind it. So I was very curious what would happen next. Anyway, the race is the race and it's done," Boonen said at Vals Plaat.

After Christophe Laporte punctured following the Trouée d'Arenberg Jumbo-Visma found themselves outnumbered as Jasper Philipsen and Gianni Vermeersch joined the front group. "Then comes that critical point where Jasper (Philipsen, and Mathieu van der Poel, ed.) runs into Degenkolb, where those two are almost standing still. They then slow down ten to fifteen per hour, after which Mathieu also goes there easily."

Boonen believes the ease van der Poel had to respond to Wout van Aert's attack on the Carrefour de l'Arbre hinted that the Belgian would not be able to drop his rival. "Simply put, I don't think Wout was better than Mathieu," he argued. It was then on the final meters of the sector that the race was decided as van Aert ultimately punctured and suffered irrecoverable losses very quickly.

As for his former team Soudal - Quick-Step, Boonen is aware that racing on the back foot has led to more situations which have prevented them from fighting for wins. "Often they were able to make up for such a spring in Roubaix, but that was not possible this time either. They have ended up in the corner where the blows fall. If you are too far, you will also be caught between punctures and crashes. I don't think you can change the team's DNA as Quick-Step, I think you can do both," he concluded.