Paris-Roubaix: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of the Hell of the North

By Monday morning, the roads of northern France were back to normal, and all the accoutrements that signified the presence of the biggest one-day race in professional cycling were packed away.

The thousands of fans who had packed the roadside for Paris-Roubaix Femmes and the men's Paris-Roubaix have travelled home, the colourful signs which transformed 30 strips of cobbled farm roads in the Nord département into the famous sectors are gone, and the post-industrial city of Roubaix has fallen quiet for another year.

The races may have departed, but the memories remain following a weekend packed with action on those legendary cobbled sectors.

Some dreams have been realised, from the winners of the biggest prize and others celebrating positive results to those riders battling through adversity to proudly make the finish. Yet more dreams have been dashed, while plenty of the 312 starters will bear the scars of their brutal day on the bike.

The war on the dry, dusty cobbles of this year's Paris-Roubaix may not quite have matched Sergio Leone's epic Western for brutality. Still, we've sorted the main talking points of the weekend into The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

Read on for our look back at the action from the Queen of the Classics.

The Good

Home glory and a long drought broken

As far as home winners go, French cycling fans had been enduring a lengthy drought at Paris-Roubaix; Frédéric Guesdon's triumph in 1997 was the most recent French victor before this weekend. In the men's race, at least, it's a drought that doesn't look likely to be broken anytime soon.

In the women's race, however, the host nation hasn't had to wait long to hear La Marseillaise ring around the Vélodrome André-Petrieux. With her 25km solo victory on Saturday afternoon, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot ended a combined 32 years of hurt for France.

The 33-year-old, this year racing her fullest road campaign since 2018, wasn't even supposed to be racing the Queen of the Classics following a crash and ankle infection suffered at Strade Bianche.

After the finish, she revealed she only finished her course of antibiotics on Wednesday, later deciding "to ride to try to help Marianne Vos to play a team tactic."

It worked, and then some, with Ferrand-Prévot jumping clear after the Cysoing à Bourghelles sector. "I wasn't even thinking about winning the race," she said. "I just wanted to make SD Worx work. But I won, so it's super cool."

Of course, Ferrand-Prévot is far from an unknown racer or breakaway underdog, but her victory was still somewhat unexpected. Few other French riders were in with a shout, in any case, while the wait for a home triumph in the men's race continues. TotalEnergies neo-pro Florian Dauphin was France's best finisher on Sunday, rolling home in 25th place, 5:41 down on Mathieu van der Poel.

"It was horrible, you don't even know where you're going," the 26-year-old told L'Equipe after the race. "But given the level of this race, I'm proud of what I did. There was never a quiet moment. I didn't give up, and I'll come back even if, right now, I don't want to."

An all-time cobbled legend – and a legendary rivalry?

Following his third Paris-Roubaix victory in a row on Sunday, and his sixth cobbled Monument title so far, few can dispute that Mathieu van der Poel is this era's undisputed king of the cobbles.

The Dutchman is firmly among the ranks of Merckx, De Vlaeminck, Museeuw, Boonen, and Cancellara, and he still has many years left to give. Already tied for the most Tour of Flanders wins in history and one off the record total of Roubaix victories, he looks odds-on to take the outright records at both races before his career is up.

Van der Poel went into the race as the top favourite to take a third win in a row, and he duly delivered, looking assured and in charge all race long. Despite later admitting that his shape wasn't as brilliant as last spring, he was clearly the strongest man in the race.

Perhaps his only misstep was getting caught behind a puncturing Mads Pedersen when Tadej Pogačar attacked on the Tilloy à Sars-et-Rosières sector. Seconds later, though, the ease with which he glided across to the Slovenian proved his strength.

As Van der Poel celebrated a sixth Flanders/Roubaix title, his longtime cyclocross adversary Wout van Aert sprinted home for fourth place. That mooted cobbled rivalry may not have lived up to those legendary matchups of the past – such as those of Merckx vs De Vlaeminck, Museeuw vs Van Petegem and Tchmil, and Boonen vs Cancellara – but Van der Poel vs Pogačar could well join that list.

The world champion looks to be slightly better suited to Flanders, and he ran Van der Poel closest on Sunday before his cornering mistake and crash out of contention. There, the Dutchman has the edge.

Van der Poel lies among the legends on the cobbles of Flanders and Northern France; will his duels with Pogačar also be written into history?

Underdogs EF rewarded once again

As was the case two years ago when Alison Jackson scored a surprise victory from the early breakaway, EF Education-Oatly were once again the underdogs at this year's fifth edition of the Paris-Roubaix Femmes.

With much of the pre-race analysis and punditry surrounding star-filled teams such as SD Worx-Protime, Lidl-Trek, and Visma-Lease a Bike, few gave up much time analysing the US team's chances at more cobbled glory.

But come the end of the 148.5km race, EF had proven everyone wrong once again, walking away with second and fifth place courtesy of Letizia Borghesi and Jackson.

At the end of an aggressive race, marked by big moves from those big teams, EF had strength in numbers at the front, albeit with eventual winner Ferrand-Prévot already well up the road.

Heading into Roubaix, they worked that to their advantage, as Borghesi, in top form after finishing sixth at the Tour of Flanders, attacked several times, including a final burst to secure second in the velodrome.

"We always say that this race is who wants it the most," Jackson told Cyclingnews after the finish. "Letizia really wanted it, and I really wanted it.

"Even coming into the final, I had a rear flat, and you just sprint full gas anyway. It's all in for this race. It's about being tough and who wants it the most."

The Bad

The luck of Paris-Roubaix

Monday's edition of L'Equipe dedicated 11 pages to Sunday's race, poring over the 'big two' at the front of the race while also taking time to report on those finishing further back, including 'Le grand malchanceux', or 'the great unlucky one', Mads Pedersen.

Luck – or the lack of it – always plays a part at Paris-Roubaix, and it was no different at this year's race, especially when the men's peloton took to the cobbles on Sunday.

Pedersen entered the weekend in some of the best form of his career, having won Gent-Wevelgem and finished second at the E3 Saxo Classic and Tour of Flanders in recent weeks. But all the form in the world can't prevent untimely punctures, as he found out midway through sector 16, 71km from the finish.

He was out in front alongside Van der Poel, Pogačar, Jasper Philipsen, and Stefan Bissegger and in contention for the win at the time. Who knows what might have been if one of those rocks hadn't caught his front tyre at the wrong angle…

Later on, Pedersen refused to dwell on the race-changing moment, saying, "I also don't want to give any if, and if, and if. I was unlucky and had a puncture at a really bad moment. It is what it is."

Spare a thought for him and the other top contenders who fell victim to the luck of Roubaix, including Filippo Ganna, who punctured on the first sector before finishing almost five minutes down, and, of course, Pogačar.

A thought, too, for Dries De Bondt, who was on course to finish in the top 10 before bizarrely following a race moto down the deviation route after the final cobbled sector rather than turning right into the velodrome.

"Unfortunately, he took the deviation, but so did I. How is that possible? This was my third Roubaix," he told Het Nieuwsblad. "Fred Wright, from whose group I had jumped away, turned out to be ninth. I didn't know myself that I was riding for ninth place."

More solo finishes

Admittedly, it's a stretch to label this 'bad', given all the action packed into the 408km of racing over the weekend.

However, with 64 of those kilometres being taken up by solo rides to victory by Ferrand-Prévot and Van der Poel, perhaps the run-ins of both races could've been more exciting.

For better or worse, in recent years, we've all grown accustomed to superstar riders pulling off long solo rides to win the biggest races in the world. However, it's hard not to think back to Pedersen's puncture, Pogačar's crash, and the lack of response to Ferrand-Prévot's attack and wonder what might have been.

There was plenty of exciting racing during the long lead-ins to those winning attacks. Ellen van Dijk's move at 71km to go marked the eruption of the women's race, while Pogačar's first move on Haveluy à Wallers – now seemingly the new 'start point' for the men's final just before the Trouée d'Arenberg – came at 104km to go.

Solo efforts have won three of the five Paris-Roubaix Femmes editions to date. At the same time, Sonny Colbrelli's triumph back in 2021 was the most recent men's race decided by something other than a lone rider rolling into the Vélodrome André-Pétrieux.

Here's hoping that future editions will herald fewer solo rides and more fights among larger groups onto the final sectors and the velodrome itself.

Wout van Aert out of the picture

If you could ever stretch your imagination to finishing as high as fourth in Paris-Roubaix, your immediate celebrations might be cut somewhat short were you to be greeted by questions about why you didn't win.

But that's exactly what happened to Wout van Aert, although the question was posed by his four-year-old son, Georges, rather than a member of the press.

Once again, another cobbled campaign has passed without that dreamed-about Monument win for the Belgian. And, as noted earlier in the article, his once-promising Classics rivalry with career-long opponent Mathieu van der Poel now looks rather one-sided, if it exists at all.

Van Aert – dubbed 'Le grand absent' by L'Equipe – was tackling Roubaix on the Gravaa self-inflating tyre system, which aided Pauline Ferrand-Prévot to glory a day earlier, but at the finish, he admitted, "You still need good legs, though."

He was detached from the front of the race when Van der Poel shot away on the tarmac after the 'Pont Gibus' sector of cobbles in Wallers, and from that point on, he'd be consigned to the chase group before eventually getting outsprinted by Mads Pedersen.

"I was really not good at that moment," he told Sporza later. "I fell before the first sector and didn't suffer much damage, but I had to race from behind for a long time. I didn't have legs yet at Wallers, and in the end, it was a surprise I could still fight for the podium."

Earlier this spring, he had come under criticism from fans and the press for underperforming upon his return from a spell at altitude. He'll have a few more chances at glory this spring with Brabantse Pijl and Amstel Gold Race next on his schedule, but at the age of 30, opportunities to add Flanders or Roubaix to his palmarès are dwindling.

The Ugly

Carnage on the cobbles

Like punctures and mechanical problems, crashes are part and parcel of Paris-Roubaix. The 2025 editions were no different, with riders finishing injured and several others suffering fractures that will keep them out of action for some time.

In the women's race, Norwegian rider Sigfrid Haugset battled to the finish in 71st place before later finding out that she had fractured her hip in a crash 59km from the finish line, following a crash with another rider on a dusty cobbled corner.

As the Coop-Repsol rider told Cyclingnews from hospital on Monday, "In hindsight, it probably wasn't the best idea to continue, but at the same time you don't know how bad the injury is. And it’s Roubaix, so I wanted to finish."

She won't need surgery but won't be able to race again before the end of June.

Davide Ballerini suffered the worst luck of the day in the men's race. The XDS-Astana rider left the race with a fractured wrist for which he has already undergone surgery.

Ballerini was in the peloton racing through a feed zone when he barely kept it upright as a soigneur leaned out into the road chasing a dropped bidon.

As a result, his front tyre came off the rim, and a subsequent bike change left him off the rear and chasing back on. However, he wouldn't make it back to the group with a spectator putting an end to his race after stepping out into his path.

The crashes came more frequently in the men's race, with numerous falls hitting the peloton as the riders raced towards the first cobbled sector of the day. Big names, including Wout van Aert, Matej Mohorič, Silvan Dillier, Jonathan Milan, Jasper Philipsen, and Jasper Stuyven, were all caught up in the carnage of the day.

Thankfully, precious few suffered major injuries.

The bidon throw and its consequences

Finally, we come to the ugliest moment of the weekend when men's champion Mathieu van der Poel was struck in the face by a full bidon thrown by a spectator as he raced home with 33km to go.

The Dutchman described the impact as "like a stone hitting my face", noting that it might've broken his nose and calling the incident "attempted manslaughter." Luckily, he stayed upright, avoided any serious injury, and carried on to win the race for a third time.

The fan turned himself in to Flemish police on Monday morning, while local prosecutors in France have also opened an investigation.

Later in the race, another spectator threw liquid at Van der Poel, and the pair of incidents raise questions over what, if anything, can be done to properly protect riders from the members of the public who come out to watch them.

On Monday, the UCI condemned the bidon thrower, stating, "The UCI will explore all legal means to have such behaviour properly and severely punished. We will take the same measures in the future against any act that threatens the physical integrity of riders."

It's a strong statement, but one that very much falls under punishing the offenders rather than trying to prevent the offences.

Van der Poel's Alpecin-Deceuninck team, meanwhile, pointed out that such incidents are linked with "excessive alcohol consumption", calling the bidon throw an escalation of previous incidents in road races and cyclo-cross.

"We also found that the misconduct of a few has far-reaching consequences," the team stated, according to Het Nieuwsblad, noting that it affects safety while overshadowing and distracting from the racing.

"We are pushing for consultation with and cooperation between all parties involved (riders, teams, federations, organisers and governments) so that measures can be taken to keep people with bad intentions away from cycling races and to act more proactively on the critical points known in advance."

Of course, given the nature of road racing, it's impossible to police the entirety of race routes. We can all hope that something can be done to prevent a repeat of similar incidents in future, though.

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