Wout van Aert Conquers Paris-Roubaix for the First Time: The Victory That Redefines his Legacy

A career defining result in the Hell of the North, Wout van Aert claims his second cycling monument.  

Paris-Roubaix, undoubtedly one of cycling's hardest races, known as 'Hell of the North', taking in 260km of Northern France's hardest roads and 55km of cobbled sectors. Here is all you need to know:

* The 2026 edition was largely regarded as a head-to-head between the cycling greats (Wout Van Aert, Mathieu Van Der Poel and Tadej Pogačar).

* "Today was incredibly tough, I've been so unlucky in the past, but it brought me the experience required. It couldn't be more beautiful than going to the line with the World Champion in the Roubaix velodrome. I was sticking to my plan in my dreams and preparation; the hardest part was getting to the velodrome. I was on the limit to stay on the wheel of Pogačar", states Wout van Aert.

* Van Aert is on a comeback from a fractured ankle sustained in January, which provided a significant setback to his season.

* Attacking on Sector 12 (Auchy-lez-Orchies à Bersée), the race really began to split among the favourites. Van Aert and Pogačar worked well as a duo, constantly putting pressure on each other throughout every cobbled sector, but they were inseparable.

* The race came down to a sprint in the Roubaix Velodrome, where Van Aert out-sprinted Pogačar, in the fastest ever Paris-Roubaix, with an average speed of 49km/h.

* With this win, Van Aert celebrates arguably the biggest victory of his career and establishes himself as a true cobbled specialist, leveraging his cyclocross background to dominate the most technical and punishing sectors of the race.

* This victory sees Van Aert take his second cycling Monument, following his victory at Milan-San Remo in 2020.

Today, he didn’t just win a race, he redefined his place in cycling history, with arguably his biggest victory of his career.

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