In addition to sporting drama, Paris-Roubaix also offered unsportsmanlike incidents that are incompatible with the rules of fair play.
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin – Deceuninck) essentially secured his third consecutive victory with 38 km to go when reigning world champion Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates – XRG), who was leading with him, miscalculated on the cobblestone section and crashed.
Van der Poel had a comfortable lead, but then malicious spectators intervened. First, with 33 km to go, someone threw a drink bottle from the Visma-Lease A Bike team, where Wout van Aert rides, in van der Poel's face. The Dutch ace was filled with holy anger and called for the vile fan to be identified and punished.
"We can't just ignore it. It was a water bottle and it hurt a lot. If it had hit my nose, it would have broken. I was going 50 km/h and it felt like a rock had hit my face. Hopefully the police can identify the bystander and bring him to justice. It was a planned attempted murder. If the UCI doesn't do something about it, then we and the team will," van der Poel promised.
However, this was not the only unpleasant incident involving van der Poel - about 17 km before the finish, a spectator threw liquid at him.
Madis Mihkels (EF Education - EasyPost), the only Estonian participant, came in 14th place, but said he was ready to beat last year's 10th place. His better result was ruined by a flat tire about 95 km before the finish.
Whoever threw this bottle at Mathieu van der Poel, I hope you get identified and spend some time behind bars tonight. 🙏 #ParisRoubaix pic.twitter.com/Hqns9kP4xz
— Benji Naesen (@BenjiNaesen) April 13, 2025
💥 🇸🇮 @TamauPogi crashed!
— Paris-Roubaix (@parisroubaix) April 13, 2025
💥 Chute de 🇸🇮 @TamauPogi ! #ParisRoubaix 😈 pic.twitter.com/ng73a5YWZ8
🛠🇳🇱 @mathieuvdpoel suffers a puncture in the Carrefour de l'Arbre sector!
— Paris-Roubaix (@parisroubaix) April 13, 2025
🛠 Crevaison pour 🇳🇱 @mathieuvdpoel dans le sector du Carrefour de l'Arbre ! #ParisRoubaix 😈 pic.twitter.com/sJ7hShCdcV
👑👑👑 🇳🇱 @mathieuvdpoel conquers Roubaix for the third year in a row!
— Paris-Roubaix (@parisroubaix) April 13, 2025
⏪ Relive the last kilometer of #ParisRoubaix 2025 😈
👑👑👑 Troisième victoire consécutive pour 🇳🇱 @mathieuvdpoel qui entre dans l'histoire de #ParisRoubaix 😈
⏪ Revivez le dernier kilometer pic.twitter.com/XdInEAUlCW
🗣️ 🇳🇱 @mathieuvdpoel : "It means a lot! It's such a hard race and I was really suffering. It's too bad @TamauPogi made this mistake in the corner."
— Paris-Roubaix (@parisroubaix) April 13, 2025
🎙️🇬🇧 Tune in to the interview with the winner of #ParisRoubaix 2025 ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/GafET7itue
🏆😈 #ParisRoubaix 2025 🪨💐
— Paris-Roubaix (@parisroubaix) April 13, 2025
🥇🇳🇱 @mathieuvdpoel
🥈🇸🇮 @TamauPogi
🥉🇩🇰 @Mads__Pedersen
👏 pic.twitter.com/sBG9MseRba
😈 No #ParisRoubaix experience is complete without a stop in the legendary showers. @TamauPogi knows 🚿
— Paris-Roubaix (@parisroubaix) April 13, 2025
😈 Tadej Pogacar le site, l'expérience Paris-Roubaix n'est pas complète sans un arrêt dans les légendaires douches 🚿 pic.twitter.com/WNa9fr8Lnb
At least we got some good company in the showers... 🌈
— Unibet Tietema Rockets (@rockets_cycling) April 13, 2025
🇫🇷 #ParisRoubaix https://t.co/1mhXnydabC pic.twitter.com/l171FSnm24
