Mathieu van der Poel on Sunday claimed one of cycling’s most glittering prizes, breaking away on a dangerous cobbled section for a magnificent solo triumph at the Paris-Roubaix classic.
The 28-year-old Dutch rider produced a string of aggressive attacks to shake off stubborn resistance before the decisive move on the epic 256.6km race was sparked by a spectacular fall.
The one-day season is turning out to be Van der Poel’s with a recent triumph at Milan-San Remo, a narrow miss at the Tour of Flanders a week ago and Sunday’s convincing display of power handing him a fourth triumph in epic one-day races known as Monuments.
Photo: AFP
His teammate Jasper Philipsen finished 46 seconds behind to beat fellow Belgian rider Wout van Aert into second at the Roubaix velodrome finish line.
An early fall featuring three Ineos Grenadiers riders was pounced upon mercilessly by an elite clique that broke away until only seven top riders were left, including prerace favorites Filippo Ganna, Mads Pedersen, Stefan Kung and 2015 winner John Degenkolb.
The action then exploded on the Carrefour de l’Arbre five-star cobbled section with 20km to go when Degenkolb fell sprawled on the ground, several riders swerving to avoid him in a move that caused Van Aert to puncture.
Photo: AFP
Van der Poel burst away and never looked back until he was close to the line.
“It’s impossible to do better than this,” the 28-year-old Alpecin-Deceuninck rider said.
“When I passed Van Aert his face looked low, I didn’t know he had a puncture, but that’s Roubaix, you need good legs and good luck,” he said.
Philipsen later admitted he had knocked Degenkolb over.
“I told him I was sorry, you don’t want this, but it happens. Everything went our way, we had good luck,” he said. “It all happened so fast.”
The average speed in the race was about 46kph.
Third-placed Van Aert congratulated the winner.
“I rode defensively. He’s so strong at the moment it would have been stupid to attack in,” the 28-year-old Belgian said.
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