There is an image that will remain more vivid than any other: Mathieu Van der Poel walking on foot, against the flow, through the Arenberg Forest, the sacred ground of Paris-Roubaix. His bike at his side, an incredulous look on his face, and chaos all around him. And indeed, what happened is difficult to explain. Or perhaps not, because we must remember that at the Roubaix, anything can happen. Up to that point, everything was under control. Van der Poel was up front, in second position, glued to Wout Van Aert. Jasper Philipsen was following, ready to support him. The race seemed to be in Alpecin's hands.

«We were going very well in the race - team manager Christoph Roodhooft explained -. Then, after just a few hundred meters, we both got punctures». First Tibor Del Grosso stopped. Then it was Van der Poel's turn. A flat tire, right at the most merciless point of the course. The team cars don't arrive. They can't arrive, because there are other problems. At the entrance to the Forest, an accident blocks everything. A rider has crashed into the barriers, the doctor has gotten out, the cars have stopped and the road has closed.

«We couldn't get through and we were stuck for more than a minute - Roodhooft continues -. Everyone knows that a minute at the Roubaix is an eternity and can cost you the race». And this year, complicating matters further, there's an even heavier absence: no one at the roadside, no mechanics. So Van der Poel is left alone, but shortly after his trusted Philipsen arrives. His friend, seeing the situation, stops and without thinking twice gives him his bike. But something doesn't work. Van der Poel tries to clip in his shoes, but nothing, he can't get going. «They were using different pedals. End of story», said Roodhooft bluntly, one of Alpecin's leaders.

Philipsen is running a Shimano prototype, Van der Poel is not. The shoes won't clip in. Time is running out. The race is now lost. «I think I was very stupid - Roodhooft continued with regret -, I allowed the pedals to be used in the race as well». At that point everything seems lost, when something unexpected happens. From a distance comes Tibor Del Grosso: the Dutchman has already punctured himself, but he sees his captain in trouble. He understands everything in an instant. He stops, runs, takes Mathieu's bike and suddenly becomes a mechanic. He removes the wheel, replaces it skillfully and Van der Poel sets off again. But the joy lasts only a second and Del Grosso himself explains why. «When I replaced it, I saw there was a crack in the rim. I hoped it would hold and instead it didn't. Incredible that everything went that way. It would have been easier to win the lottery, but in the end it didn't work out».

Van der Poel changes his bike just before the end of the Arenberg Forest, sets off furiously, he's two minutes down on Van Aert and Pogacar, with 93 km to the finish but determined to get back in the race. He gets to within twenty seconds, then finishes fourth. A result that, on paper, says little, but tells everything. «It must have been one of his best races ever - Roodhooft continues -. To see it slip away like this would be enough to make him never want to get on a bike again».

Since 2023 Van der Poel has won three consecutive Roubaix races. One blow after another and he became the best, then the puncture and the dream of standing on the podium. In an instant it all collapsed on the stones of the craziest race of all.