Did these pedals cost Mathieu van der Poel his shot at victory in Paris-Roubaix?

Alex Hunt, Cor Vos

Even with dry weather, this year’s edition of Paris-Roubaix was crammed full of mechanicals, with almost all of the big favourites suffering an incident at one time or another and having to chase back. However, for the three-time defending champion Mathieu van der Poel, a puncture midway through the Arenberg Forest saw him distanced by the lead group, never to regain contact.

This shouldn’t have been the case, though.

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