Mathieu van der Poel recorded a devastating victory at Paris-Roubaix with a significant 60km performance assault, his second sequential triumph at the race, and the Dutchman’s second Landmark in eight days following his Ronde van Vlaanderen achievement.
The one-day trained professional, who rides for Alpecin-Deceuninck, split away from an enormous driving gathering and demonstrated his power and technique on the cobbles of northern France to win overwhelmingly of three minutes.
The quickest release of the race, with a triumphant season of 5hr 25min 58sec, was a one-two for Alpecin‑Deceuninck: Jasper Philipsen won the run for second against Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trip).
Van der Poel, 29, has won six Landmark Works of art – three Ronde van Vlaanderen, two versions of the “Damnation of the North”, and one Milano-Sanremo.
“It’s difficult to accept really,” Van der Poel said. “Perhaps the group were significantly more grounded than a year ago. I’m really pleased with the young men and extremely glad to polish it off.”
Mathieu van der Poel drives clear on the cobblestones
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Mathieu van der Poel controls clear on the cobblestones. Photo: Bernard Papon/AFP/Getty Pictures
Inquired as to whether the long performance assault was arranged, he said: “Not actually … I felt great today. I realized it was a tailwind to the completion … You generally know at Roubaix a cut is rarely far away yet I was certain, and I could partake in the second beyond what I could a week ago.”
With 50km leftover the Dutchman drove the chasers by 42sec, yet that had stretched out to 1min 6sec simply a kilometer not too far off as it seemed the chasers deserted any expectation of getting him. With 35km left Van der Poel drove by two minutes and just an accident or a mechanical planned to deny him. Organisers purportedly said they expect to attempt to find a fan at side of the road that seemed to toss a cap at Van der Poel’s back wheel.
A three-man bunch highlighting Nils Politt, Gianni Vermeersch (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Stefan Küng (Groupama‑FDJ) had prior been pursued down, after crosswinds had been a variable in parting the peloton with around 150km to race on the overwhelming 259.9km course.
