The 29-year-old Dutchman achieved a feat that was last achieved by the Swiss Fabian Cancellara in 2013.
Alone on the way to another big victory, flanked by enthusiastic spectators: Mathieu van der Poel.
Bernard Papon / Imago
(dpa)/wag. Road world champion Mathieu van der Poel also won the 121st Spring Classique Paris–Roubaix in an impressive manner. Like last year, the Dutchman took victory after 259.7 kilometers, including 55.7 kilometers over the dreaded cobblestones. Van der Poel’s Belgian teammate Jasper Philipsen and the Dane Mads Pedersen took second and third place by a clear margin.
As in the previous year, the Swiss Stefan Küng ranked fifth; With around a dozen kilometers to go he was no longer able to stay in the first chasing group.
Van der Poel won the Tour of Flanders just last week, also single-handedly. He is the first driver to achieve this rare double since Swiss Classique specialist Fabian Cancellara in 2013. And he is the first rider since Peter Sagan in 2018 to triumph at the Roubaix Vélodrome wearing the world champion’s jersey. For van der Poel it is the seventh success in total in one of the major one-day races; In addition to Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders, he was also victorious in the Amstel Gold Race and Milan-Sanremo.
The decision was made a good 60 kilometers from the finish when van der Poel attacked and the competition could no longer follow. Nils Politt had previously also been represented in a three-man top group. The German ultimately took fourth place; In the final sprint against his last companions Philipsen and Pedersen he had no chance.