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  "description": "The Secret Pro considers a return to tubulars and ponders whether Pogačar would have won without that last puncture.",
  "path": "/the-secret-pro-a-roubaix-debrief/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-15T17:30:57.000Z",
  "site": "https://escapecollective.com",
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  "textContent": "It’s been a few days since Paris-Roubaix finished and I’m still picking dust and dirt off me. It was, as it always is, absolutely insane. There is no other race like it. When you arrive into Roubaix and enter the velodrome, you look around you and everyone is so exhausted. It’s genuinely mad how fucked everyone is. It doesn’t matter if you’re an average WorldTour rider or one of the best, you leave all your oxygen out on the road. Look at the interview of Mathieu van der Poel after the finish where he could barely speak. Everyone’s in the same boat: they’re fucked. It’s what makes this race so special.\n\nI’ve got to start by congratulating Wout van Aert on his win. He really deserves it and everyone in the peloton thinks so too. It’s not like he’s been short of success – this is a guy who won a sprint, time trial and mountain stage in the same Tour de France – but it feels like he’s been trying to win Roubaix forever.\n\nI saw a social media post that was a screenshot of the moment on the Carrefour de l’Arbre where Pogačar slipped and Van Aert almost rode into some spectators. He was millimetres from clipping the leg of a fan. I think Pogačar was very lucky not to fall, but Wout was much more in control. The caption of the post was: the moment the universe decided that Wout van Aert had had enough bad luck. It made me laugh because I can promise you that every single rider in the peloton would have experienced the same situation multiple times. We just don't have cameras on us all day!\n\n### This post is for subscribers only\n\nBecome a member to get access to all content\n\nSubscribe now",
  "title": "The Secret Pro: A Roubaix debrief",
  "updatedAt": "2026-04-16T15:31:08.558Z"
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