Mathieu Van der Poel Wins Paris-Roubaix with Dominant Solo Performance

Again. The editions of Paris-Roubaix follow one another and are similar. Like last year, Mathieu Van der Poel pulled off a solo performance to win, this Sunday, the 121st edition of Enfer du Nord, his 2nd Monument of the year after his success on the Tour des Flanders a week ago.

All it took was an attack 60km from the finish to irresistibly fly towards his second Paris-Roubaix. And, like last year, Alpecin-Deceuninck took the double since Jasper Philipsen dominated the sprint for 2nd place ahead of Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), 3rd. The French never weighed on the race. Christophe Laporte (Visma – Lease a Bike), 25th in the event, obtained the best result for the Blues.

The borders before the decisive attack

There was never much suspense. Expected to be the ultra-favorite of this 121st edition, with no real rival on paper, Mathieu van der Poel did not leave the slightest room for doubt, helped by an impressive masterclass from his training.

At the forefront from the start to control a breakaway that was nevertheless serious with the presence of Kasper Asgreen (Soudal-Quick Step), Per Strand Hagenes (Visma | Lease a Bike) or Rasmus Tiller (Uno-X Mobility), Alpecin-Deceuninck ran perfectly, on cobblestones and even on asphalt. Because it was on the road that they started the race 150km from the finish, at the exit of sector 27 from Quiévy to Saint-Python, taking advantage of a side wind to blow up the peloton.

This movement condemned outsiders like Oier Lazkano (Movistar), Yves Lampaert (Soudal-Quick Step) and Luca Mozzato (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), all trapped. After a while, Mads Pedersen held on to him and quickly came back and, very quickly, we felt that he would be the only one who could give the impression of being able to follow Van der Poel. Print only.

The world champion’s first acceleration in the Trouée d’Arenberg, whose chicane at the entrance fortunately did not cause any damage, quickly showed the strongest of the day, with only Philipsen and Pedersen hanging on in his wake, in addition to the astonishing Mick Van Dijke (Visma | Lease a Bike), whose brother and teammate will finish 7th. But the second one, no one was able to follow her.

The favorite shows itself: Van der Poel accelerates in the Trouée d’Arenberg

Three Alpecin-Deceuninck in the top 6

His violent acceleration in sector 13 of Orchies, at more than 55 km/h, was enough to isolate himself – despite the efforts of the Lidl-Trek – and the world champion set off for a 60km solo. Still a little more than the 54km of the Tour of Flanders but, like a week ago, the competition has been relegated to the rearview mirror. Even more so with the enormous work of Gianni Vermeersch and Jasper Philipsen, faithful watchdogs to prevent any organization or attack behind.

The Dutchman’s opponents quickly gave up. Calm, sure of his strength and his management of efforts, on cobblestones where he definitely never has any incidents as he masters them, the world champion was able to savor this second consecutive coronation on the Hell of the North, his 6th Monument and the first Ronde-Roubaix double since Fabian Cancellara in 2013.

“Gunshot”, “big risk”: Van der Poel’s crazy attack 60km from the finish

Behind the Dutch UFO, like last year, Jasper Philipsen settled the group for second place by dominating Mads Pedersen in the sprint, his first podium in Roubaix, and Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates). As a further symbol of the overwhelming domination of Alpecin-Deceuninck, Gianni Vermeersch even went for 6th place. Three riders in the top 6 is just huge.

Note also the good team race of Groupama-FDJ (Stefan Küng finished 5th, Laurence Pithie 7th) while Christophe Laporte, unlucky with a puncture in the first sector of Troisvilles and who never returned, was beaten to the end to finish first French, in 25th place. Far, very far from a Van der Poel who is already dreaming of a historic treble.

Van der Poel: ‘I had incredible legs’

2024-04-07 16:37:00
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