![\"ROUBAIX,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2270992370.jpg\")
Wout van Aert outsprinted Tadej Poga\u010dar to win, and both set an amazingly fast average speed in excess of 30mph. Getty Images<\/p>\nLast weekend saw the fastest Paris-Roubaix ever, with winner Wout van Aert averaging an incredible speed of 48.91kph \/ 30.39mph.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This speed was thanks to advances in sports science and training, alongside a bristling tailwind. Bikes are showing huge advances, too. They\u2019re more aerodynamic, the drivetrains are more reliable and they\u2019re lighter \u2013 even if that\u2019s not as important at a race such as the Hell of the North.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s a shortfall in all these advancements, and that\u2019s the humble pneumatic tyre. I\u2019m not talking about rim-interface technologies, which have been a hot topic in recent years. But what we saw at the men\u2019s Paris\u2013Roubaix was a huge number of punctures that arguably changed the whole outcome of the race.<\/p>\n
Wout van Aert outsprinted Tadej Poga\u010dar to win, and both set an amazingly fast average speed in excess of 30mph. Getty Images<\/p>\n
With the likes of Tadej Poga\u010dar running tyres that were nominally 35mm wide, you\u2019d think there would be fewer punctures, but this was far from the case. The world champion punctured several times \u2013 even resorting to a Shimano neutral service bike<\/a> at one point \u2013 and punctures also sabotaged Mathieu van der Poel\u2019s hopes<\/a> of claiming a fourth consecutive victory at Paris\u2013Roubaix.<\/p>\n Teams are employing plenty of hacks<\/a> to improve tyre reliability, from mismatched tyres to glueing tubeless tyres<\/a> and using inserts (both foam and inflating). Nothing, however, seems to be able to prevent the dreaded puncture.<\/p>\n What can tyre brands do? We\u2019ll never be able to eliminate punctures \u2013 they’re a simple matter of fact with an air-inflated tyre. For tyre brands, though, a failure at a crucial time can cause far more reputational damage than the benefits of getting a positive result can bring.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve seen an increase in the use of inserts. These foam rings<\/a> don\u2019t prevent punctures, but they minimise the damage and mean pros can ride slowly while they flag down a team car for a spare bike.<\/p>\n Inserts aren\u2019t a solve-all, though. So what other options are there?<\/p>\n The UCI outlawed one potential fix for race-ending punctures on the eve of Paris\u2013Roubaix, the Gravaa inflation hub<\/a>. This wouldn\u2019t prevent punctures, but if you burped a tubeless tyre or had a slow puncture, it could compensate, as well as ensuring the right pressures for the changing surfaces of classics such as Roubaix.<\/p>\n Another option could be \u2018solid tyre\u2019 tech, which raises its head every few years when a start-up takes on the idea. Brands such as Tannus and Gecko make solid tyres that are OK for non-sports applications, and commuter or urban hire bikes, but they can\u2019t cut it when it comes to road feel and low rolling resistance. <\/p>\n Perhaps a breakthrough in solid tyre tech may happen, but nothing performance-oriented is on the horizon.<\/p>\n Can tyre makers learn from mountain biking? One unlikely place that might provide the answer to punctures at Paris\u2013Roubaix<\/a> is downhill mountain biking<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The racing discipline had similar issues a few years back, as courses got more technical and at the same time faster, thanks to improvements in bike tech, and the skills and athleticism of the riders. This led to races being won \u2013 or more accurately, lost \u2013 on the reliability of tyres.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tyre inserts<\/a> offered a potential solution to the problem. However, in more recent seasons the use of inserts has declined at the same time tyre brands are making tougher downhill-specific tyres, using the same soft, sticky, grippy compounds but encasing tougher and stiffer casings<\/a> to prevent splits and cuts.\u00a0<\/p>\n So perhaps we now need a classics-specific tyre construction?<\/p>\n I know Continental offer the GP5000 AS TR and Vittoria have the Corsa Pro Control, but I’d say both of those are more all-weather than cobbles specific. I think we need the same lightweight, soft sticky compound of pure race tyres, but with a casing prepped for the hard edges of hitting cobbles at speed. Thats what downhill tyre tech has brought in, even to the point of single-race compounds!<\/p>\n Don\u2019t get me wrong, downhill racing still suffers its fair share of tyre failures, but mountain bike tech seems to be making bigger strides to address this.<\/p>\n The opposite is true in gravel, with tyre brands not making \u2018fast\u2019 gravel tyres<\/a>, but instead overbuilding tyres for racers by making them bikepacking-tough.\u00a0<\/p>\n That has led to racers switching to lighter, faster, mountain bike XC tyres. It\u2019s changing for gravel racing<\/a>, though, with the advent of tyres such as the HYPR-X-compound Maxxis<\/a> range, Panaracer\u2019s new GravelKing ZX<\/a>, and Continental with the Dubnital<\/a>.<\/p>\n Maybe there isn\u2019t a commercial reason for brands to make tyres tough enough for Paris-Roubaix. However, I\u2019d argue finding a balance between speed and toughness should be a priority. I\u2019d certainly be in the market for a tyre that was tough enough to survive Paris-Roubaix, even if that meant a small weight trade-off.\u00a0<\/p>\n After all, we amateurs don\u2019t have the luxury of support vehicles \u2013 and who wants to be stuck on the roadside changing a flat tyre?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last weekend saw the fastest Paris-Roubaix ever, with winner Wout van Aert averaging an incredible speed of 48.91kph…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531150,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-531149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-cycling","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776208872_191_untitled-90.jpg\")
Visma-Lease a Bike is glueing tyres to its rims. Ash Quinlan \/ Our Media<\/p>\n![\"Wout](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Wout-van-Aert-Gravaa.jpg\")
The Gravaa tyre pressure system was outlawed on the eve of the race. Getty Images<\/p>\n
\n![\"Nukeproof](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Nukeproof-Megawatt-Carbon-News-Tyres-3e2d9a2.jpg\")
Full-on downhill tyres are beefed up to resist the stresses and strains of racing. Laurence Crossman-Emms \/ Nukeproof<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/continental-GP5000s-TR-35mm-Woz-3.jpeg\")
A Roubaix-proven toughened race tyre would be a popular choice for amateurs. Warren Rossiter \/ Ourmedia<\/p>\n