Wout van Aert: “Now it’s all worth it”
April 12 th 2026 - 17:23
Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) was the winner of the 2026 Paris-Roubaix Hauts-de-France.
“This victory means everything to me. It’s been a goal since 2018, when I first did this race and I lost a teammate, Michael Goolaerts. [Who lost his life at age 23 in a fatal crash - ed.] He is the reason why I pointed my finger to the sky. This victory is for Michael, and also for his family and the staff - Marianne, Christophe… and all my friends and teammates from my previous team. It was a really tough day and, ever since then, I have always been unlucky in this race in one way or another. This also brought me some experience and, when luck was not on my side today, I kept believing I could win. Finally, the reward is here.”
“I didn’t stop believing a lot of times, but the next day I always woke up after falling short again. Honestly, there isn’t a more beautiful way to win this race than defeating the world champion to the line. He is a true champion and he gave me such a hard time. Beating him mano-a-mano is something really special for me.”
“When I entered the Velodrome, I just stuck to my plan. In my mind and during my preparation I did this sprint so many times. I knew exactly what to do. The hardest part was making it to the Velodrome. Tadej attacked so many times. I was on my limit to stay in his wheel. Now it’s all worth it.”
“This is such a chaotic race. Everybody coming through the finish line has his own story, and that’s what makes it so beautiful. It can be hard, but on a day like this it is the best race that exists.”
“Mons-en-Pévèle was the moment when I decided to stick on Tadej’s wheel through the cobbled sectors, so he couldn’t attack from behind. It was a moment of realization - he is the strongest rider of the peloton, after all. I managed to keep up with that acceleration in Mons-en-Pévèle, and from then on stayed on his wheel.”
“Since we first went on the attack, I knew I had a small chance to win, even if we were a long way off the finish. Until the Carrefour de l’Arbre, I thought we had a chance of staying at the front but I was also aware that anything could happen. After that sector, I really believed we would play for the win. I’ve been pretty unlucky some times in this race. It would be a nice story to say I was feeling better than any other year before, but the reality is I also felt quite good in previous years when circumstances have played against me. The experience gathered in those previous editions of the race gave me the knowledge I needed to pull off this victory.”
“I’m obviously proud of this victory. Winning this race feels like a big relief. It was a dream for our CEO Richard Plugge to finally win Roubaix and, as you know, I was always the one who was supposed to pull it off over the last few editions. I’m incredibly proud to finish off the work of years and years, and also of the riders who were with me today. As a matter of fact, having Christophe [Laporte] in the chasing group definitely played a role in my victory too.”
