Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel powered his way to his first Paris-Roubaix victory on Sunday as he left his rivals reeling with a 15km solo attack at the end of a typically eventful “Hell of the North” race.
Van der Poel, of the Alpecin-Deceuninck team, was part of a seven-rider leading group that seized control with 50km of the 257km race remaining. He then launched an attack on the Carrefour de l’Arbre cobbled section after John Degenkolb (Team DSM) crashed heavily and his main rival Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) had a puncture.
There was no stopping the 28-year-old Van der Poel then as he surged away in the sunshine towards the finish at the iconic Vélodrome André-Pétrieux.
📊💨⚠️
— ammattipyöräily (@ammattipyoraily) April 9, 2023
2023 is fastest Paris-Roubaix edition ever. 46.841 Kph.
Old record was improved by 1.049 Kph (45.792 Kph in 2022).
On the second of two laps around the circuit Van der Poel could afford to milk the cheers of the crowd as he crossed the line to win a race that evaded his grandfather, the illustrious Frenchman, Raymond Poulidor. In the battle for second place his teammate Jasper Philipsen edged out fellow Belgian Van Aert.
Philipsen and Van Aert finished 46 seconds in arrears. Former road world champion Mads Pedersen was fourth with Stefan Kung fifth and Italian Filippo Ganna sixth.
Van der Poel’s win took his Monument tally to four having won this year’s Milan-San Remo in dominant fashion and also the Tour of Flanders in 2020 and 2022.
“I had one of my best days on the bike,” he told Eurosport. “I felt really strong and tried to do a couple of attacks earlier but it was really hard to drop the guys.
“On the last sector, Degenkolb had a crash then I had to close a gap to Wout and I think he had a flat tyre. I found myself alone in front and just rode as hard as I could.”
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Van der Poel has some sympathy for Van Aert with whom, along with Tadej Pogacar, he shares a rivalry that is one of the most exciting for many years in men’s cycling.
“When I passed him, his pace was low. I knew he had problem, but didn’t know it was a flat tyre. It’s unfortunate, maybe we would have gone as two to the finish line,” he said. “It’s unfortunate but it’s part of the race. You need good luck and good legs and I had both today.”