Mathieu van der Poel's double puncture in the Forest of Arenberg will be the mechanical catastrophe he remembers for the rest of his life.
It should have been a straightforward swap to his teammate Jasper Philipsen's bike and a return to the front group, where he could fight for a record fourth consecutive Paris-Roubaix title.
But it turned into the surreal scene of the Dutchman walking back down the Forest of Arenberg, against the flow of riders, to collect his own bike, because he couldn't clip into his Belgian teammate's pedals.
On camera, the walk appeared calm, cool and composed, but maybe there was also a hint of resignation in the moment, maybe anger too. Save for the emotional scenes of Wout van Aert's victory, these images will define the 2026 Men's Paris-Roubaix.
Luckily for Van der Poel, his young teammate Tibor Del Grosso had worked out the issue unfolding. He had a cool enough head to spot his leader's bike lying in the grass, stop, and quickly begin swapping his own wheel to Van der Poel's then-abandoned machine.
By the time Van der Poel had returned from his 50-metre trip up the road, his bike was back to a rideable state, but over a minute and a half had been ceded to his rivals.
Van der Poel then punctured again shortly after, while still on the Arenberg, but the team car was closer at hand on this occasion, and the Dutchman swapped bikes in a more straightforward exchange.
By the time he exited the Trench, he was almost two minutes behind Van Aert, Pogačar, et al.
The following 90km of the race were spent chasing. Van der Poel found himself in the second group on the road. In fact, much of his time was spent on the front of said group. And he eventually pulled it back to within 15 seconds of the leaders.
Ultimately, he sprinted into 4th, just 15 seconds behind Van Aert and Pogačar, with Jasper Stuyven nabbing 3rd.
Why couldn't he clip in?
The Alpecin-Premier Tech team are sponsored by Shimano, and all riders use Shimano's Dura-Ace pedals, but the problem arose because Philipsen, along with Florian Sénéchal and Jonas Rickaert, were using a new prototype pedal. In the aftermath of the race, Alpecin-Premier Tech's mechanics confirmed to Cyclingnews that the two systems use different cleats.
In a race as chaotic as Paris-Roubaix, where team cars are rarely nearby because of the narrow roads and stretched-out peloton, swapping to a teammate's bike is often the fastest way to get going again, and can be the difference between a quick return to racing and a race-ending long wait for support.
Christophe Roodhoft takes the blame
Importantly, the pedals themselves aren't to blame for any of this, but Alpecin-Premier Tech's decision to put half the team on one pedal and the other half on another.
It's impossible to know how the race would have played out in different circumstances, nor indeed if Van der Poel would have been able to outsprint Van Aert in the Roubaix Velodrome, but the delay on the Arenberg absolutely cost Van der Poel the opportunity to fight for the win.
Speaking exclusively to Cyclingnews, a team mechanic explained that the pedals should have been compatible, and that Philipsen swapped bikes with Planckaert at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne in February.
"It should work, hey. But the Arenberg is not the same as Kuurne," he said.
Meanwhile, Christophe Roodhoft spoke with assembled media.
"They fit, but it's not the same as normal," he explained, confirming the cleats are different.
"But it's done now. I can't undo it. I should have thought of it, but I never imagined it would all come together in such a crucial way.
"Right now, I think it was very stupid of me. That sounds harsh. But I don't understand how I didn't think of it. It's more unlikely than winning the lottery, all of it falling together like that."
He also explained that Del Grosso had already punctured at the time, but fortunately for Van der Poel, it was his rear. He was attempting to ride on, but saw his leader's abandoned bike and sprung into action.
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