photo credits @ ASO
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) once again stamped his authority on this year’s Spring Classics calendar with a stunning victory in today’s Paris-Roubaix
On a brutal day dotted with crashes and punctures elsewhere in the field, the Dutch rider attacked along the Orchies cobbled section with 60km still to go, distancing all of his closest rivals almost immediately with a remarkable solo sortie that saw his gap move out to almost three minutes by the latter stages.
And after negotiating the remaining cobbled sections with ease, the world champion could coast to back-to-back “Hell of the North” wins as his stellar season continued.
Meanwhile, Jasper Philipsen made it 1-2 for Alpecin-Deceuninck, after the Belgian rider outsprinted Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), followed by Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates) in fourth.
Pedersen led the trio into the velodrome, looking round at Philipsen and Politt, both on his wheel. Politt launched his attack early, with Pedersen coming round him on the outside and Philipsen on the inside. It was Philipsen who snatched second place, securing a one-two win for Alpecin-Deceuninck for the second year in a row. Pedersen claimed third, with Politt fourth.
Küng, still battling to catch up, finished fifth, ahead of a pursuing Vermeersch and Pithie, who finished sixth and seventh respectively.
Following on from his 2023 win at Roubaix —also a solo victory— Van der Poel joins a select group of riders to win the esteemed Hell of the North more than once. His win last weekend at the Tour of Flanders —solo again— makes him the 11th man in history to complete the Flanders/Roubaix double, doing so for the first time in 11 years.
The win also brings his Monument tally to six, putting Van der Poel in the top 16 of all time.
“I could never have dreamed of this as a child,” said Van der Poel after the race. “I’m a bit lost for words.”
Race Highlights
A small breakaway group containing PerStrand Hagenes (Team Visma | Lease a Bike), Rasmus Tiller (Uno-X Mobility), Kasper Asgreen (Soudal Quick-Step), Marco Haller (BORA – hansgrohe), Liam Slock (Lotto Dstny), Gleb Syritsa (Astana Qazaqstan Team) and Kamil Małecki (Q36.5 Pro CyclingTeam), managed to escape early on, with the group later getting reeled in some 120 kilometers later.
In the meantime, podium contenders such as Visma’s Christophe Laporte, Soudal’s Yves Lampaert, Arkéa’s Luca Mozzato or Movistar’s Oier Lazkano and Iván García Cortina were dropped for good. Josuha Tarling’s race came to an end at sector 24 from Capelle to Ruesnes, as the race jury disqualified him for holding onto the Ineos Grenadiers’ team car following a puncture.
Pedersen led the front group into the Trouée d’Arenberg, where van der Poel launched a powerful acceleration. Only his teammate Philipsen, Mick van Dijke (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Pedersen could keep up with his effort. The front group reformed, and three riders rose to the occasion to establish a new breakaway out of Sector 18 from Wallers to Hélesmes, with Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ),Politt and Gianni Vermeersch (Alpecin-Deceuninck). The latter did not cooperate as he was protecting the chances of his leader, while the move was eventually shut down by Lidl-Trek with 68 kilometers to go.
Vermeersch led the front group into sector 13 in Orchies (km 199,5 – 1,7 km), where van der Poel attacked with 60 kilometers to go to. No one could match his acceleration as the Dutch rider quickly built a sizable gap.
Pedersen, Politt, Küng, Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ) and Philipsen later went clear from the chasing group during the Mons-en-Pévèle cobbled sector, fighting for the two remaining podium spots. Pithie crashed out of contention with 30 kilometers to go, while Küng got dropped in Gruson.
In the three-up sprint that settled things down between the chasers at the Vélodrome, Philipsen took the best of Pedersen and Politt.
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