Paris-Roubaix again denied Tadej Pogacar on Sunday, when Wout van Aert beat him in a sprint finish inside the velodrome at the end of the 260km race packed with 30 cobblestone sectors. [1]
Pogacar has won four men's Tour de France titles and many other major races, but Paris-Roubaix remains missing from his list of victories. [1]
The event has a fearsome reputation. It was first held in 1896 and is described as cycling's most brutal race, with 260km of cobbles and no mountains to break the strain. [1]
Lizzie Deignan, who won the inaugural women's Paris-Roubaix in 2021, described the surface as more like cobbles dropped at random than proper roads, and said the effort can feel like holding on to a pneumatic drill while racing at full speed. [1]
The race's place in the calendar keeps the focus on its harsh demands, with riders facing the same long cobbled test each year and the next edition already set for the road ahead. [1]
