The 2025 edition began in rather chaotic fashion. Even before the first of the race’s thirty cobbled sectors, there were several crashes and delays. Team Visma | Lease a Bike wasn’t spared either, but team leader Van Aert was brought back into the peloton by his teammates.

The race truly ignited on the cobbles of the Trouée d’Arenberg. The favorites opened the throttle. Matthew Brennan, who delivered a commendable first Paris-Roubaix at just 19 years old, and Van Aert were initially well-positioned but soon had to let go of a group of five. In that breakaway group, Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar were the driving forces.

Eventually, it was those two who remained up front. They gradually extended their lead over Van Aert’s group. Van der Poel ultimately rode solo to victory. Van Aert, with Mads Pedersen on his wheel, managed to fight his way back, but was left contesting the battle for third place.

On the Roubaix Velodrome, Van Aert faced off against Florian Vermeersch and Pedersen. The latter came out on top, throwing his bike just ahead of Van Aert at the line, meaning the Belgian had to settle for fourth—just as he did in the Tour of Flanders.

“It’s a shame I couldn’t grab third place”, said Van Aert afterwards. “Mads was stronger. He launched early and I couldn’t get past him. On the Trouée d’Arenberg, I had to let a gap open to the competition. I’d already spent some energy earlier in the race after a minor crash. That cost me at that crucial moment on one of the toughest sectors of the race.”

Van Aert, as always, was honest. “I’m glad I could still fight for the podium in the end. Matthew and I were stuck in chase mode. Matthew rode a phenomenal race. It was great to see. Today, Mathieu, Tadej, and Mads were stronger than I was. Fourth place was the maximum I could do. I think it’s a realistic reflection of how the race unfolded. The Gravaa system worked flawlessly today. That gave us a real advantage over the competition. It’s ideal for races like this”, Van Aert concluded.

“It was an exceptionally tough race”, said debutant Brennan. “It really exploded on the Trouée d’Arenberg. From that point, it was all about chasing. Even though it was incredibly hard, I did enjoy the experience. Unfortunately, I faded a bit towards the end. But I’ll definitely be back in the future.”

Head of Racing Grischa Niermann reflected on the team’s performance after Paris-Roubaix. “Wout didn’t have the ideal start to the race but managed to recover impressively during it. In the end, he rode a very strong race. By the time he got into his rhythm, the strongest guys were already gone. It’s admirable how he fought his way back. Fourth place isn’t what we came for, but it was the best possible result today. We always aim to win, but we have to acknowledge that a few riders were simply stronger”, Niermann concluded.