Wout van Aert's puncture "the defining image" of 2023 Paris Roubaix - Fabian Cancellara

Paris-Roubaix is a race that has plenty of marking moments, some of the most important of the season in fact, and former winner Fabian Cancellara believes Wout van Aert's late puncture in the 'Hell of the North' is one of the defining moments of this spring.

"...Yes, two punctures. Van Aert’s puncture on the Carrefour de l’Arbre, just when he went on the attack, will be remembered as the defining image of the finale, of course. But his Jumbo-Visma teammate Christophe Laporte’s puncture in the Trouée d’Arenberg 70km earlier had already changed the dynamic of the race," Cancellara said in his post-Roubaix Cyclingnews column.

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Several riders suffered mechanicals throughout the race, but none perhaps at more important times than the Jumbo-Visma duo, who initially attacked before Arenberg with numerical superiority, and over the afternoon they've lost it completely not due to being attacked, but instead because of their equipment. "But in the Forest of Arenberg, Laporte punctured, and I think this was really decisive. It influenced Wout’s tactics from there, because now he was suddenly outnumbered by Van der Poel, who had two Alpecin-Deceuninck teammates – Jasper Philipsen and Gianni Vermeersch – for company at the front," the Swissman explains. 

"We don’t know what the outcome would have been if Laporte hadn’t punctured, but his absence certainly influenced Wout’s race tactics and mentality from there on. With Laporte, Jumbo would have had another option and a rider to send on the attack or to control the group. I mean, just look at how well Philipsen rode for Van der Poel. Without Laporte, Wout instead had to race differently," Cancellara argues.

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That was eventually the case, with van Aert then racing defensively - with success - over the following hours. The race would only break apart at Carrefour de l'Arbre where the bullets he had saved were put to use. Philippe Gilbert has blamed van Aert for his own puncture, but Cancellara does not share the same opinion. "In any case, I don’t think it was an error by Wout, I don’t think you can say that he took a bad line. It certainly wasn’t any different to how Van der Poel was riding on the cobbles. He could have had various punctures too, but he didn’t," he said. 

As van Aert attacked the race in pursuit of a possible victory he punctured and lost significant time at a part of the race where to recover it was very complicated. He still gained back ground and even dropped most of his group companions and into a spot on the podium, but it was a tough pill to swallow. Cancellara was also disappointed with the lack of a final spectacle: "It’s sad when you have two great rivals like that at the front only for bad luck to make such an impression. But that’s part of the game, that’s part of the race. That’s Paris-Roubaix."

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This van der Poel victory however led to a new contender emerging for the possible achievement of conquering all five monuments, as the Alpecin-Deceuninck conquered the two that are termed the hardest to win this spring - Milano-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix.

"A week ago, we were all wondering if Tadej Pogacar could win all five Monuments, and now the same questioned will be asked of Van der Poel, who has won Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix," he analyzed, whilst also casting doubts that he would be able to achieve this due to the normally mountainous nature of Il Lombardia.

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