Retired Belgian cycling star Philippe Gilbert claimed that compatriot Wout Van Aert's disastrous loss in Paris-Roubaix was due to "taking too many risks" during the race.

Van Aert's chances of contending for victory in the northern hellhole were completely destroyed when his rival Mathieu Van Der Pol (Alpecin-Desseuninck) suffered a puncture in the final stages of his game-deciding attack.

The Jumbo Visma racer later concluded that Roubaix was "like a curse" for him.

However, Gilbert, who now works as a race commentator for Eurosport and remains Belgium's most recent winner in Paris-Roubaix in 2019, later pointed out what he believed to be other, more practical reasons for Van Aert's defeat: his own mistakes.

"I remember my experiences in these races and in the Pavé stage of the Tour de France," Gilbert told L'Equipe (open in new tab).

"I made a mistake in choosing my line, and when I entered the pavé, I was not in the right position and my front wheel got a puncture.

"As a result, I lost a lot of energy and ended up fourth in the stage.

Gilbert claimed that Van Aert ran the race well, taking his time and conserving energy "just like he did when he won E3 three weeks ago," but that the puncture itself was not just bad luck.

"Wout Van Aert's mistake was that he took too many risks, that he wanted to win too much, and that he could not control that desire to win," Gilbert said.

"Mathieu Van der Pol did not make that mistake because he knew how to avoid all the traps, whether they were set by the course itself or by his competitors.