The Dutchman Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin Deceuninck) confirmed his status as favorite with a spectacular solo victory in the 120th edition of Paris-Roubaix, played this Sunday between Compiègne and Roubaix with a 256.6-kilometer route, where he showed a power that put him for the first time in the list of winners of the ‘Hell of the North’.
Van der Poel (Kapellen, 28 years old), recent winner of the Milan-San Remo and 5-time cyclo-cross world champion, expanded his rich list of honors with the third monumentalso has back Tour of Flandes- and he did it with his best version.
Raymond Poulidor’s grandson attacked the Carrefour de L’Arbre, carried off his great enemy, the Belgian Wout Van Aert who immediately punctured, and began the triumphant path alone, unbeatable, powerful, to the Roubaix velodrome, where he was acclaimed, entering the finish line with a time of 5h.28.42, at an average of 46.8km/hour.
Envelope time to celebrate a special, one-of-a-kind win in a career you hated and now love. Her happiness grew with the second place of his Belgian teammate from Alpecin Jasper Philipsen, who beat Van Aert, both 46 seconds behind Van der Poel. 50 seconds later the other protagonists of the final break arrived, KUng, Ganna and Pedersen.
“I have hated Paris Roubaix and now I love it. It has been a very tough race, from the start we went very fast, but I was very strong. I think it has been my best season of classics. This victory is also incredible for the team, impossible to improve. It has been the best day on the bike, I felt very strong”, said a happy Van der Poel at the finish line in Roubaix.
The Jumbo and Van Aert break the race
The long journey to Roubaix began with multiple attacks and attempts to break the platoon earlyuntil the initial break was formed with Jonas Koch (Bora), Derek Gee (Israel), Sjoerd Bax (UAE) and the German from Movistar Juri Hollmann.
The favorite teams gave the go-ahead for the adventurers to make their way through the flat area, but before reaching cobbled territory the scenery began to change coinciding with the initiatives of the Jumbo Visma. A first attack by the Frenchman Laporte continued with another key move by the leader, Wout van Aert.
The race entered the first ‘pavé’ sector at Troisville with 1.25 minute advantage for the escapees. The project did not have much more life. Van Aert’s start took Van der Poel and a group of sprinters who had the strength to respond with a whole world still ahead of them.
Van Aert blew up the race. 90 minutes from the finish line, Van der Poel and Van Aert were already at the head of the racewithin a front group next to Philipsen, Ganna, Degenkolb, Pedersen, Walscheid, King….many sprinters, dangerous in the face of a possible arrival to be resolved by speed at the Roubaix velodrome. Now with the chasing group at 1.30 minutes the victory was ahead, among the greatest.
The theoretical advantage was for Van der PoeHe, accompanied in the escape by two men from Alpecin, Philipsen and Vermeersch, while Van Aert marched alone, since his teammates Laporte and Van Hooydonck were trapped in a second group.
Alpecin began testing solutions on the cobbled section of Auchy-lez-Orchies à Bersée, 51 minutes from the finish line, with Van der Poel in the lead. An acceleration from the Dutchman was immediately answered by Van Aert, forced without gregarious to control any movement.
In Mons en Pévèle, with 3 kilometers of pavé he arrived Van der Poel’s second ax blow, with a new response from van Aert, mentalized to suffer an ordeal to the finish line. The group of seven escapees rode in truce for a good number of kilometers, waiting for the Carrefour de L’Arbre, where the fastest men were to be eliminated.
Van der Poel decide y Van Aert pincha
Indeed, the mythical Carrefour de l’Arbre (2.1 kilometers of cobblestones, rated 5 stars, was the scene of the key move, the decisive one. A tactical moment of the “classic of the classics”, where each one had to look for his moment and have the strength to execute it.
17 kilometers from the finish line, and in full attack by Van der Poel, the winner of Milan – San Remo collided with Degenkolb, the German went to the ground in the grass area and the final cut was made. Van der Poel and Van Aert took the lead.
Both were opening differences when 2 kilometers later, already on the asphalt area, Van Aert got off the bike. The most inopportune puncture in history for the Belgianwho despite quickly changing the wheel has already lost sight of his rival.
The triumphal path had begun, straight to glory. Van der Poel no longer looked back, gritted his teeth and increased the difference to 30 seconds. Unstoppable, he showed up at the velodrome, put his hands to his head, rubbed his face. He didn’t believe it, but he broke the finish line like a champion, with a demonstration for history.
