Mathieu van der Poel has secured victory at the one-day classic Paris-Roubaix.
The Dutchman entered the Roubaix velodrome on Easter Sunday after 256.6 kilometers – 54.5 km of which were over the notorious cobblestones – as a soloist. For the 28-year-old, it was the second major triumph of the year after winning Milan-Sanremo in March.
In the end, Van der Poel had a 46-second lead – and cheered exuberantly at the finish. “Unbelievable. I had one of the best days on the bike. It’s amazing and hard to describe‘ said van der Poel.
The Dutchman benefited from a defect on Wout van Aert’s bike in the closing stages of the race. Jasper Philipsen, van der Poel’s colleague, beat van Aert in the sprint for second place and made the one-two for the Alpecin-Deceuninck team perfect.
Epee sword strong, but bad luck with a fall
The one-day classic ended bitterly for John Degenkolb. The audience’s applause and the recognition of winner Mathieu van der Poel for an outstanding performance could not console the German professional cyclist. A fall in the final phase had deprived Degenkolb of all chances of his second victory after 2015 in the classic Paris-Roubaix and made the “hell of the north” a drama for him.
“It is not easy to describe how great the disappointment is“, said Degenkolb, who about “pretty bad pain” complained in the shoulder: “Certainly I wasn’t the strongest in this group, but Roubaix is Roubaix and anything can happen when you’re in this group and you’re so close to the final.“
Degenkolb seventh, Walscheid eighth
In the end, Degenkolb was seventh (+2:35 minutes), Max Walscheid was eighth. In 2015, Degenkolb was the second German after Josef Fischer (1896) to triumph in the “Queen of the Classics”.
Canadian Alison Jackson won the third edition of the women’s race on Saturday. The 34-year-old won after 145.4 km and a total of 29.2 km of cobblestones. Best German was Romy Kasper in 17th place.
Sagan has to get off early
Peter Sagan, the former professional of the German team Bora-hansgrohe, had to give up injured at Paris-Roubaix after the first cobblestone passages. Sagan fell in the first section after a good 95 kilometers. The Slovak won Paris-Roubaix in 2018.
Bad luck with a fall at the Tour of Flanders
The 33-year-old had to end the Tour of Flanders prematurely last week. Sagan was involved in a mass crash caused by careless behavior by Pole Filip Maciejuk, who was later disqualified.
Sagan will end his career on the road at the end of the year. The Slovak wants to compete in the mountain bike race of the Paris Olympic Games next year at the end of his career.