Mathieu van der Poel added yet another monument victory to his palmeres with a solo win at the 2023 Paris-Roubaix.
Van der Poel took advantage of a puncture suffered by rival Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) on the cobbles of the Carrefour de l’Arbre and never looked back, going it alone for 15km to enter the velodrome at Roubaix alone.
“It’s incredible, it’s hard to describe. I think I did my best classics season ever, and this was my last race. To finish it like this, it’s a dream,” Van der Poel said at the finish line. “I normally hate this race, but for sure I love it today,” he added with a smile.
Van Aert and Van der Poel’s teammate Jasper Philipsen led the chase group with Philipsen securing the second step on the podium for Alpecin-Deceuninck and Van Wert in the third position.
“It’s incredible, and how we rode as a team, with Jasper in second, it’s not possible to do better than this,” Van der Poel said. “I had one of my best days on the bike. I felt really strong.”
Van Aert had briefly opened a lead on Van der Poel on the Carrefour cobblestones before a flat tire knocked him out of contention.
“It was unfortunate, because otherwise we could have gone together to the finish line,” Van der Poel said of his rival’s disaster-timed mechanical. “But bad fortune is sometimes part of the race. You need a bit of luck and good legs, and I had both today.”
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