Paris-Roubaix 2024: Mathieu van der Poel crushes field to solo to ...

Alpecin-Deceuninck underlined their credentials as the best Classics team around with an awesome one-two in the so-called Hell of the North as Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel soloed to glory to complete the fastest ever edition of Paris-Roubaix.

Belgian team-mate Jasper Philipsen then outkicked Denmark’s Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) to take second place in the velodrome exactly three minutes down.

World champion van der Poel became the first rider since Fabian Cancellara in 2013 to win both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix in the same season.

The 29-year-old defending champion also became the first man since Tom Boonen in 2009 to win successive editions of the Queen of the Classics, with Philipsen – winner of Milano-Sanremo last month – coming runner-up for the second straight year. The records did not stop there, either, with Alpecin-Deceuninck becoming the only team in history to win the first three of cycling’s Monuments in the same season.

One day after Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky snared the women’s edition in the rainbow jersey, Van der Poel ensured the weekend belonged to the reigning world champions after a powerful acceleration with just under 60km remaining paved the way for his latest show of domination. Van der Poel became only the seventh man to triumph in the Roubaix velodrome while sporting the rainbow bands, with his solo blast just a few hundred metres short of Andrei Tchmil’s record attack in 1994.

Germany’s Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates) missed out on a place on the podium after being outgunned by Philipsen and Pedersen on the home straight, while Swiss powerhouse Stefan Kung (Groupama-FDJ) completed the top five ahead of Belgium's Gianni Vermeersch – the third Alpecin-Deceuninck rider to make the top 10.

"I'm super proud of the boys and very happy to finish it off," Van der Poel said after his third win in only five races this year. Asked whether he planned to put in his winning attack so early, the Dutchman said: "No, not really. I wanted to make the race hard from there because I know that's my strength and I felt super good today. When I had a gap, I knew I had a tailwind to the finish, so I just went for it.”

Van der Poel spoke of the pride and emotion he felt to win such an historic race while sporting the rainbow bands of world champion. “I never could have dreamed of this as a child,” he said. “I was super motivated for this year – I wanted to show the jersey in a nice way. It goes beyond expectations and I'm a bit lost for words actually and I want to enjoy this moment."

'Hard to believe, lost for words' - Van der Poel reacts to glorious Paris-Roubaix triumph

With the rain holding off and temperatures in the mid-20s, the sun shone down on Alpecin-Deceuninck as Van der Poel’s team did not put a foot wrong in the defence of his cobblestone crown.

No sooner had the day’s seven-man breakaway formed than a touch of wheels in the peloton caused a big early crash that forced Elia Viviani (Ineos Grenadiers) and Jonas Rutsch (EF Education-EasyPost) to abandon. Other big-name riders to hit the deck were Belgians Laurenz Rex (Intermarche-Wanty) and Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep), as well as the towering Italian Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek).

With the first of 29 sectors of cobblestones still over 50km away, the seven leaders – Per Strand Hagenes (Visma-Lease a Bike), Rasmus Tiller (Uno-X Mobility), Kasper Asgreen (Soudal-QuickStep), Marco Haller (Bora-hansgrohe), Liam Slock (Lotto Dstny), Gleb Syritsa (Astana Qazaqstan) and Kamil Malecki (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) – edged 1’30” clear of the pack.

Race favourite Van der Poel sent his team to the front alongside Lidl-Trek’s Tim Declercq to keep a lid on the advantage while two riders – Belgian Dries De Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) and Dusan Rajovic (Bahrain Victorious) – struggled to make any inroads between break and pack.

Seven eventually became nine ahead of the first section of cobbles, onto which the breakaway held a slender gap of just 1’20” over an Alpecin-led peloton that quickly became strung out under the tempo of Van der Poel’s team-mates. European champion Christophe Laporte (Visma-Lease a Bike) picked up an early puncture and was forced to chase back on – a task considerably complicated by an upping of tempo that tore the peloton to shreds.

A split with 154km remaining in the crosswinds between sectors of cobblestones ended the chances of almost the entire field. Indeed, after the first five sectors of cobbles the peloton had not only caught the break but had also been whittled down to just around 30 riders.

Pedersen and British debutant Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) were forced to chase back on after being distanced, while the unfortunate Rex, who had battled back from the initial crash, went over the handlebars after ploughing into a traffic island. There was further woe for another Ineos debutant, Josh Tarling, who also fought back from a crash but was then disqualified for taking a pull from his team car following a puncture.

Tarling disqualified from Paris-Roubaix - 'Doesn't want the cameras on him'

Much of the pre-race discussions involved the controversial addition of a chicane ahead of the infamous Arenberg Forest section of cobbles. In the event it proved a damp squib: instead of a large peloton of a hundred riders jostling for positions ahead of the pinch-point, only 30 riders – five of which were from Alpecin-Deceuninck – remained on the nose of the race as the dog-leg played out in apparent slow motion.

Watch nervy moment leading group negotiate pre-Arenberg chicane

If it was Pedersen who emerged from the obstacle in pole position, the brutal bone-jangling section of cobbles proved an early launchpad for Van der Poel, who surged to the front and edged clear. Pedersen, Philipsen and the Dutchman Mick van Dijke (Visma-Lease a Bike) were able to follow but the quartet was soon caught after the cobbles once Philipsen was forced to stop for a wheel change.

Van der Poel puts the hammer down to emerge in lead after Arenberg cobbles

As the leaders regrouped after the Arenberg fireworks, Vermeersch first covered an attack from the young New Zealand talent Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ) and then joined Pithie’s team-mate Kung and the rangy Politt on the front in a move that never held more than 30 seconds over the chasers.

It had come back together by the time Van der Poel made his decisive attack on sector 13 of Orchies. Once again, Vermeersch was at the heart of the action, the Belgian paving the way with a big pull before his indefatigable colleague powered clear with 59.7km remaining.

Pedersen led the chase along with the UAE duo Politt and debutant Tim Wellens – but their every move was covered by Vermeersch and Philipsen while their team-mate extended his lead with every pedal stroke. The world champion’s gap was one and a half minutes as he made light work of the Mons-en-Pevele sector inside the final 50km as team-mate Philipsen marshalled a chase group of Kung, Pithie, Politt and Pedersen.

'This is the move!' - Van der Poel launches blistering solo attack with whopping 60km to go

Pidcock rallied behind but was unable to join the chasers, who soon lost the impressive Pithie after his front wheel skidded on a gravelly section between cobbles. Pithie’s team-mate Kung was first to drop from the chasers after Philipsen upped the tempo on the iconic Carrefour de l'Arbre sector, while Vermeersch zipped clear of the second group as Alpecin-Deceuninck looked to push for a clean sweep of positions on the podium.

The one-two-three never materialised for Vermeersch, who was unable to bridge over in time. But that mattered little: just as they had done 12 months previously, Van der Poel and Philipsen had secured the first two places on the podium, with the battling Pedersen left to take third.

It was an emphatic individual performance matched only by the collective masterclass of his Alpecin-Deceuninck team. Van der Poel’s winning time of 5:25.58 marked the quickest ever edition of Paris-Roubaix, the 259.7km race completed by the Dutchman in an astonishing average speed of 47.8kmph.

Such was his total dominance that one roadside ‘fan’ did her best to derail Van der Poel’s ride by tossing a cap towards his bike around 42km from the finish. Thankfully, no damage was done and the world of cycling was left to doff their collective cap to the latest display of brilliance by a world champion who now has six Monuments to his name on his swelling palmares.

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