Mathieu van der Poel won the duel against Tadej Pogacar at Paris-Roubaix. The outstanding drivers of this spring then praise each other.
An hour after his second defeat against Mathieu van der Poel this spring, Tadej Pogacar sits on a podium and is so tired that he has to support himself. And yet: the experience of Sunday was great, the start at Paris-Roubaix and “Drive on this cobblestone, especially since we were very successful as a team”. This is not wrong, second place for him, the Slovenian world champion, and fifth place for Florian Vermeresch is an excellent result.
But for Pogacar, the hungry new Eddy Merckx, position two is a defeat, even if he expresses himself differently. However, the Dutch winner, like Pogacar a phenomenon of the country roads, consider it with an extraordinary praise: “Mathieu is a great champion and one of the best drivers in the world. If I were a child who is interested in cycling, he would be my idol.”
The all outstanding drivers
Pogacar and van der Poel shaped the first months of this cycling season with their excellent duel for the first three of a total of five cycling monuments. Monuments are particularly old, archaic and prestigious single -day races, the most important of the cycling calendar. Van der Poel won two of them, Milan-Sanremo in March, Pogacar finished third on the Ligurian coast, and on Sunday Paris-Roubaix, the ride over this time 55.3 kilometers of cobblestones.
Pogacar, in turn, won the Flanders’ tour a week ago and referred Van der Poel to third place. The other two cycling monuments are a specialty of Pogacar: Liège-Bastogne-Liège at the end of April and the Lombardy tour. These are excursions about many hills and climbs, van der Poel’s constitution as a heavy driver can hardly allow success, especially not against Pogacar, probably the best mountaineer in the present. 8: 8 is now in the internal monument rating between Van der Poel and Pogacar.
“The monster has not disappeared”
For Mads Pedersen, one also exceptional drivers on the north pavés, this time remained third, a plate braked it out in Sector 15 a good 70 kilometers before the finish. At that time he was promising in the race. But he did not lament, such fate suffered one or the other on the uneven paving stones. But he has to emphasize one thing: “I once said that Mathieu van der Poel is a monster. Now it can be said: The monster has not disappeared.”
In addition to an outstanding performance, the monster was also lucky, in several ways. On the one hand, van der Poel benefited from a Pogacar driving error, 38 kilometers before the finish in sector nine between Pont-Thibault and Ennevelin, a passage that is rated with three out of five possible stars. At that time, the expected duelingists of this race had settled from the rest, a good seven kilometers before they had Jasper Philipsen, van der Poels teammates, as the last companion. This was followed by attack on the attack by the leadership duo, and then a misinterpretation of Pogacar.
Near-collision with Accompanying vehicle
A motorcycle drove ahead, braked and suddenly stopped. Pogacar then believed that it continued straight ahead, overlooked a right -hand bend, took it at the last moment and came to a standstill shortly before the motorcycle at the expense of a home. His chain had loosened from the wreath, it took many seconds for Pogacar to sit on the saddle again. Van der Poel had already hired, the decision had been made. Pogacar commented on this incident with two words after the race: “Shit happens.”
Van der Poel had looked around after the misfortune of his opponent, thought to wait briefly, but noticed that Pogacar had a problem and sat down. “I think this is part of Paris-Roubaix. Someone has a breakdown and you open up, you don’t have to wait”said van der Poel in the unwritten rules of this special race, to which defects like the sun belong to the day.
Van der Poel drives in front without information
This also applies to technical problems that van der Poel had to cope with. His radio had failed and also his power meter. He didn’t know how big his lead was or the one he drove out together with Pogacar. Above all, he did not know which wattage he stepped, that is a big disadvantage for a soloist. Even the moment he had to accept a record 15 kilometers before the finish in the five-star Carrefour de L’Arbre, van der Poel was virtually unsuspecting: “I didn’t know how far I was in the lead.” In this case, too, fate helped him: his material car was right behind him, the wheel change had no effect.
After all, van der Poel had been brought off a hair by a viewer who threw a filled drinking bottle in the direction of the Dutch soloist in sector eight, a good 34 kilometers before Roubaix – and hit him on the head. Van der Poel said after the race that this was an unpredictable process: “I was 50 kilometers per hour and then a thing will hit you, heavy as a stone. It’s not acceptable.” Two years ago, someone had already thrown a bidon from the side in van der Poels spokes, which was then able to avoid a fall. Ultimately, however, the Dutch was able to continue his journey unharmed and without loss of time after the fright.
And so van der Poel won after almost 260 kilometers and 5: 31.27 hours, euphoric received by the spectators in the sold-out open-air velodrome from Roubaix, raised his right hand, spread three fingers in the air, braked behind the finish line and braked his bike into the evening sky. The three fingers raised were a gesture of pride: it was Van der Poel’s third victory in series in Roubaix. This was only achieved in front of him: the Frenchman Octave Lapize between 1909 and 1911 and the Italian Francesco Moser, who triumphed north in 1978, 1979 and 1980. With a fourth success, he could catch up with the Belgians Roger de Vlaeminck and Tom Boons, the record winners of this race.
Jonas Rutsch with three thick bubbles
Pogacar ultimately had a delay of 1:18 minutes, Pedersen finished 2:11 minutes to Van der Poel. The best German on Sunday was the sixth -placed Hesse Jonas Rutsch, who initiated the first group of the day early on. “For me it was about suffering, as long as possible, and then hope that it is enough for a good result”he said. For this race, he was predestined as a heavy driver who can also endure pain. And then he showed his hands, on which a total of three thick bubbles had formed.
Van der Poel, son of the successful classic hunter Adrie from the Poel and grandson of France’s cycling hero Raymond Pouildor, pleased Pogacars Idol-Lob. “To hear something from this driver who may be the best professional of the present and one of the best in the entire history of this sport is a great honor. Tadej is only 26, but he is a kind of new Eddy Merckx.” Eddy Merckx is considered the greatest reference of this sport, he won 19 monuments, five times the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia, 525 races as a whole is unmatched. And yet Pogacar – so far 93 victories – approaches the spheres of the great Belgian with his racing instinct and his nonchalance on the bike. Even if he lost an even better one this time.
The big spring controllers are now taking different ways. Pogacar will show himself at the Amstel-Gold-Race, the Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège at the end of April and then prepare for the Tour de France, which he won in the previous year. Van der Poel now takes a longer break.