Watching the peloton - Professional Road Racing thread 2026

[Rás Cnoic]

Just watching a post race interview with Pog, he looks totally cooked, never seen him cook so wrecked. This result must be a colossal disappointment.

He had 3 punctures, he says. It's funny because the build up is all about tyre size, tubeless and or inserts? What PSI? All these tech improvements, even UCI last week banning the Gravaa tyre inflation/deflation system out of the blue (really pissing off Visma) and yet year after year the number of punctures is always high.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Too much luck in this race IMO. I know luck plays into every bike race, but not to this extent. I know it makes Paris Roubaix the exciting race that it is. And I'm very happy that WVA had the least bad luck of the main contenders this time.

But being arguably the world's best bike handler and 1-day racer didn't prevent or overcome MVDP's bad luck. And that doesn't feel quite right.

Nor does the added risk of injury. The sport is too dangerous even without that.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

Too much luck in this race IMO. I know luck plays into every bike race, but not to this extent. I know it makes Paris Roubaix the exciting race that it is. And I'm very happy that WVA had the least bad luck of the main contenders this time.

But being arguably the world's best bike handler and 1-day racer didn't prevent or overcome MVDP's bad luck. And that doesn't feel quite right.

Nor does the added risk of injury. The sport is too dangerous even without that.

I think that there is the divide between purely physical prowess sports (100 metre sprint etc) and skill sports (Motocross etc) In road cycling you need both and brains, it's what is special. Luck is a huge part of PR for sure and that is part of it's mix. Just because on paper you are the strongest doesn't mean you are preordained to win. It would be boring and ignore both the physical differences in riders (small, tall, kick no kick etc) and the different skill levels of riders. You can crash in pretty much any road race and bluntly, die.

Each race has a different character, again that is what separates road from track and makes each classic very special and unique each year. And it's not all about luck otherwise the list of palmares wouldn't include most of the all time great cyclists.

It adds a layer of excitement and to win against these odds is even more special.

And anyway which is more dangerous cobbles or tearing down an Alpine pass at 80+ mph with a contact patch of only a couple of cms long?

It's all risky.

 

[stompandgo]

I am so happy for Wout. He beats the world champion in arguably the hardest Monument by smoking him in the sprint. This is also an important win for Visma, who is looking for a sponsor for 2027.

 

[edobici_forza]

Question for you long time pro racing fans, as I am a new spectator.... Were there more mechanicals this year than in recent Paris Roubaix? It would seem that with all of the bike, wheel and tire advancements the bikes would be much more durable for this race. Or are the riders pushing the bikes that much harder? I think the final time was lower than past, but I don't know the history of the distance, etc.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

Question for you long time pro racing fans, as I am a new spectator.... Were there more mechanicals this year than in recent Paris Roubaix? It would seem that with all of the bike, wheel and tire advancements the bikes would be much more durable for this race. Or are the riders pushing the bikes that much harder? I think the final time was lower than past, but I don't know the history of the distance, etc.

Hard to say, it is Roubaix and famous for punctures, mechanicals etc. There did seem to be a lot this year so interested to see if there is any autopsy or thoughts from racing/industry people. A couple of years ago it was all about the horror of hookless rims and tyres rolling off causing some bad crashes.

 

[stompandgo]

It was the fastest Paris-Roubaix in history, by some 20 minutes or so. The head of the race was also very close to the chase groups and the peloton all day, which means reliance on neutral support, and multiple bike changes once the gap opened up enough. I don't think that it was as much about equipment, and more how the riders threw caution to the wind in pursuit of victory.

 

[edobici_forza]

Thanks for the insight!

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Question for you long time pro racing fans, as I am a new spectator.... Were there more mechanicals this year than in recent Paris Roubaix? It would seem that with all of the bike, wheel and tire advancements the bikes would be much more durable for this race. Or are the riders pushing the bikes that much harder? I think the final time was lower than past, but I don't know the history of the distance, etc.

@stompandgo and @Rás Cnoic are the experts, I'm a relative newbie. But I did watch 2019-2025 Paris Roubaix highlights before the current race, and mechanical mayhem has been the rule.

If you want to see a particularly brutal edition with mud thrown in for extra torture, watch NBC's 2021 extended highlight reel on YouTube.

Hurts to even think about the impulsive loads those cobbles must put on bikes at pro speeds — especially on the tires and wheels.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

@stompandgo and @Rás Cnoic are the experts, I'm a relative newbie. But I did watch 2019-2025 Paris Roubaix highlights before the current race, and mechanical mayhem has been the rule.

If you want to see a particularly brutal edition with mud thrown in for extra torture, watch NBC's 2021 extended highlight reel on YouTube.

Hurts to even think about the impulsive loads those cobbles must put on bikes at pro speeds — especially on the tires and wheels.

Just for comparison Jeremy, this is Hardline, an extreme form of Downhill Mountainbike racing. Taking place in deepest Wales and Tasmania each year with all the world's best UCI downhill mountainbike competitors taking part. This clip is from Bernard Kerr, a sort of elder statesman of Downhill now (they are all so young!) as he does some practise laps and chats to other Downhill MTBers on the course, all casually practising for the big event.

The course, shall we say, is interesting, in terms of the bike skills required and how tough those bikes are:

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

WVA got the well-deserved limelight after the race, and I'm still elated that he won.

But I recommend watching the NBC 2026 extended highlights with an eye on the absolutely heroic efforts put in by Pog and MVDP to get back in the race after massive mechanical and logistical setbacks.

Of course WVA had his own setbacks to overcome, but long waits for team cars plagued both Pog and MVDP. Pog had 3 punctures, but that glosses over his significant stint on a poorly fitting neutral support bike. And MVDP rode like a banshee to claw back the 2 minutes he lost, eventually getting to within 21 sec of the lead.

With all they had at stake in this race, can't imagine how disappointed these 2 must be at their misfortune.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

WVA got the well-deserved limelight after the race, and I'm still elated that he won.

But I recommend watching the NBC 2026 extended highlights with an eye on the absolutely heroic efforts put in by Pog and MVDP to get back in the race after massive mechanical and logistical setbacks.

Of course WVA had his own setbacks to overcome, but long waits for team cars plagued both Pog and MVDP. Pog had 3 punctures, but that glosses over his significant stint on a poorly fitting common support bike. And MVDP rode like a banshee to claw back the 2 minutes he lost, getting to within 21 sec of the lead.

With all they had at stake in this race, can't imagine how disappointed these 2 must be at their misfortune.

Yep, watched the whole thing live. Once they hit the first pave section this race always goes crazy, highlights miss all the great stories, worth watching it all, as it develops on the road. Even then depending on which group the TV director is showing, you can miss stuff behind or in front. I still don't know what happened to Girmay and several others in that front Pog/Wout group, whittled away I guess but I missed it. Kiwi Laurence Pithie (Redbull/Bora) was doing really well in that front group and disappeared - he'd crashed badly and finished 26th. Loads of stories like that on the day. MVDP was an animal. It was a lost hope but he kept going. If Philipsen's bike had fitted him - pedal issue - he'd have made it out of the Arenberg forrest and maybe got a spare bike on the tarmac from service car or if the first puncture happened close to the end of forest he might have limped on and got a wheel from one of the swannies waiting there and not lost so much time - 15 seconds in the end. But his resignation said it all, that's just Paris Roubaix, win some lose some.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

Yep, watched the whole thing live. Once they hit the first pave section this race always goes crazy, highlights miss all the great stories, worth watching it all, as it develops on the road. Even then depending on which group the TV director is showing, you can miss stuff behind or in front. I still don't know what happened to Girmay and several others in that front Pog/Wout group, whittled away I guess but I missed it. Kiwi Laurence Pithie (Redbull/Bora) was doing really well in that front group and disappeared - he'd crashed badly and finished 26th. Loads of stories like that on the day. MVDP was an animal. It was a lost hope but he kept going. If Philipsen's bike had fitted him - pedal issue - he'd have made it out of the Arenberg forrest and maybe got a spare bike on the tarmac from service car or if the first puncture happened close to the end of forest he might have limped on and got a wheel from one of the swannies waiting there and not lost so much time - 15 seconds in the end. But his resignation said it all, that's just Paris Roubaix, win some lose some.

Its like the big mountain days in a grand tour, on the flat days often it can be like watching paint dry until final kms, but a big mountain day is a joy to watch it all live as so much is happening on different parts of the road, see it all unfold.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I still don't know what happened to Girmay and several others in that front Pog/Wout group, whittled away I guess but I missed it.

Yes, I also watched the full replay. Ditto for Jonathan Milan. Heard only 1 or 2 passing mentions of Milan and Girmay. Normally, the callers are all over these guys.

 

[stompandgo]

WVA got the well-deserved limelight after the race, and I'm still elated that he won.

But I recommend watching the NBC 2026 extended highlights with an eye on the absolutely heroic efforts put in by Pog and MVDP to get back in the race after massive mechanical and logistical setbacks.

Of course WVA had his own setbacks to overcome, but long waits for team cars plagued both Pog and MVDP. Pog had 3 punctures, but that glosses over his significant stint on a poorly fitting common support bike. And MVDP rode like a banshee to claw back the 2 minutes he lost, eventually getting to within 21 sec of the lead.

With all they had at stake in this race, can't imagine how disappointed these 2 must be at their misfortune.

The standard gap intervals for moving race vehicles are 30 seconds for a motor commissaire or neutral support motorbike, 1 minute for aneutral support car, and 2 minutes for team cars. Another factor is how many riders are up the road and how many teams are represented. More teams = more cars = more space needed.

For P-R this year, they let team cars up into 30 second gaps. Did you see the line of them with ~15km to go all parked on the right side of the cobbles while the chase groups and the peloton rode by? That is so incredibly dangerous on those narrow, beat up roads. I was holding my breath watching that.

 

[stompandgo]

Case in point about the mechanicals. Pogacar was riding his Y1RS with 80mm Enve wheels. Wheels that deep tend to be heavy, but Enve, and all the other premier manufacturers, do whatever they can to make them as light as possible. Lighter generally means not as strong. If he was concerned about mechanicals, he would have ridden alloy rims or carbon gravel wheels that would have been stronger. Tadej rode them for one reason, for pure speed. I'm not picking on Tadej, many teams made that choice.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

If he was concerned about mechanicals, he would have ridden alloy rims or carbon gravel wheels that would have been stronger. Tadej rode them for one reason, for pure speed. I'm not picking on Tadej, many teams made that choice.

Pog said he had 3 "punctures". Wheels looked intact on the 2 I saw. Did the weaker wheels contribute to any of his mechanicals? Anyone else's?

 

[stompandgo]

It could have very well have been punctured tires, having nothing to do with the wheel. So was anyone using tire liners or foam inserts to minimize flats? I'd be very surprised if anyone did, because they are slow. That's my point.

BTW, a cracked carbon rim on a tubeless wheel may not seal well enough to prevent a flat. I didn't notice any alloy wheels out there.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Apropos several discussions here, this GCN video starts with many interesting facts and perspectives on Paris Roubaix 2026 — including overall speed, number of mechanicals, tire and rim choices, the incredible efforts by Pog and MVDP to get back in the race, etc.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Still basking in the Paris-Rubaix afterglow. Two more excellent recaps:

Roll and Liggett both saying it was one of the best races they've ever seen. And that's saying something!