Special correspondent in Roubaix
He left in force. Without lifting your buttocks from the saddle. A postman attack which left his rivals without reaction. 60 km from the finish, in the Orchies sector, Mathieu Van der Poel took off. There remained twelve sectors to cross, as many traps to overcome, but the Dutchman, the big favorite, had exhausted his patience. The Dutchman took advantage of the collective work of a dedicated Alpecin-Deceuninck team who was busy from the start setting a hell of a pace to clean up among the outsiders and head towards Roubaix. Retain his title (the first since Tom Boonen 2000). Join the prestigious authors of the Tour of Flanders-Paris-Roubaix double the same year (the Belgians Raymond Impanis, Alfred De Bruyne, Rik Van Looy, Roger De Vlaeminck, Peter Van Petegem and Tom Boonen and the Swiss Fabian Cancellara).
Masterful Mathieu Van der Poel. At 29, the Dutchman offers himself the 6th “Monument” of his career (Tour of Flanders 2020, 2022, 2024; Paris-Roubaix 2023, 2024; Milan-San Remo 2023). After a legendary number. The Paris-Roubaix winners with the longest solo escapes were Andrei Tchmil (62 km in 1994), Tom Boonen (55 km in 2012) and Fabian Cancellara (50 km 2010). Mathieu Van der Poel comes to expand the circle of these famous cobblestone hunters.
After Milan-San Remo (success for Jasper Philipsen) and the successes of Mathieu Van der Poel (Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix), the Alpecin-Deceuninck team signs a fabulous hat-trick on the first three Monuments of the season. A recital carried out at record speed which allowed him to display his sense of driving while allowing himself to express a rare power to dance on the cobblestones. Behind him his rivals, exhausted, were trying to gather their last strength. To complete a podium crushed by a rider above the rest.
More information to follow…