ROUBAIX, France (April 7, 2024) — Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Mathieu Van der Poel delivered a masterpiece in the 2024 Paris-Roubaix, pulling off a long-range solo attack and a number of records that now belong in history. Following his Tour de Flanders victory last Sunday, he becomes the 10th-ever rider to win the cobbled Monument double, and the second-ever to achieve it while wearing the rainbow jersey after Rik van Looy in 1962. His 60-kilometre solo ride to the Vélodrome André Pétrieux becomes the longest winning move in the 21st century, while his 3’00” winning margin is the largest in the last 20 editions of the race. His teammate Jasper Philipsen crossed the finish line 2nd, re-enacting the one-two that Alpecin-Deceuninck already sealed in 2023, with Lidl-Trek’s Mads Pedersen rounding out the podium.
172 riders took the start on the 121st edition of Paris-Roubaix at 11:26, off to ride 259,7 kilometres between Compiègne and the Vélodrome André Pétrieux in Roubaix with 29 cobbled sectors to be covered. 2022 winner Dylan van Baarle (Visma | Lease a Bike) was a last-minute withdrawal, and so were UAE Team Emirates’ Michael Vink and Astana Qazaqstan’s Michael Mørkøv. It took ‘only’ 22 kilometres for Per Strand Hagenes (Visma | Lease a Bike), Rasmus Tiller (Uno X Mobility), Kasper Asgreen (Soudal-Quick Step), Marco Haller (Bora-Hansgrohe), Liam Slock (Lotto-dstny), Gleb Syritsa (Astana Qazaqstan) and Kamil Malecki (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) to go clear. Shortly after, Dusan Rajovic (Bahrain Victorius) and Dries de Bondt (Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale) also took off in a bid to join the breakaway that was only successful 80 kilometres into the race. A big crash at kilometer 37 meant the end of the race for Lidl-Trek’s Jonathan Milan and Ineos Grenadiers’ Elia Viviani, affecting as well the likes of UAE Team Emirates’ Nils Politt, EF’s Alberto Bettiol and Intermarché’s Laurenz Rex amongst others.
Alpecin-Deceuninck kept the race on a tight leash
54,1 kilometres were covered in the first hour of racing as the riders benefited from remarkable tailwinds. The maximum gap for the break was clocked at 1’40”, 76 kilometres into the race, over a peloton led by Lidl-Trek and Alpecin-Deceuninck. The cobbles started with Sector 29, Troisvilles to Inchy (km 96 – 2,2 km) ***, upon which the break only had 1’25” on a pack that was blown the pieces by Alpecin-Deceuninck’s steady tempo on the pavé. The breakaway was eventually reeled in 120 kilometres into the race by a 40-strong group with Mathieu Van der Poel’s teammates at the helm. Meanwhile, podium contenders such as Visma’s Christophe Laporte, Soudal’s Yves Lampaert, Arkéa’s Luca Mozzato or Movistar’s Oier Lazkano and Iván García Cortina were dropped for good. Josuha Tarling’s race came to an end at sector 24 from Capelle to Ruesnes (km 129,3 – 1,7 km) *** as the race jury disqualified him for holding onto the Ineos Grenadiers’ team car following a puncture.
First attack by Van der Poel in the Arenberg Forest
Lidl-Trek’s Mads Pedersen led the front group into the Trouée d’Arenberg (km 164,4 – 2,3 km) *****, where Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) launched a powerful acceleration. Only his teammate Jasper Philipsen, Mick van Dijke (Visma | Lease a Bike) and the aforementioned Pedersen could keep up with his effort, that was frustrated just out of the cobbles when Philipsen punctured. The front group reformed, and three riders rose to the occasion to establish a new breakaway out of Sector 18 from Wallers to Hélesmes (km 167.4 — 1.6 km) ***: Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates) and Gianni Vermeersch (Alpecin-Deceuninck). The latter did not cooperate as he was protecting the chances of his leader, and the move was shut down by Lidl-Trek with 68 kilometres to go.
The rainbow jersey powered away 60 kilometres from the finish
Vermeersch led the front group into sector 13, Orchies (km 199,5 – 1,7 km) ***, where Van der Poel attacked with 60 kilometres to go to power solo up the road. No one could match his acceleration and the Dutch rider quickly built a sizable gap, clocked at 3’00” with 10 kilometers to go, and therefore defended successfully his 2023 victory. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates), Stefan Küng, Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) went clear from the chasing group during the Mons-en-Pévèle (km 211,1 – 3 km) ***** cobbled sector, fighting for the two remaining podium spots. Pithie crashed out of contention with 30 kilometers to go, while Küng got dropped in Gruson (km 244,8 – 1,1 km) **. In the three-up sprint that settled things down between the chasers at the Vélodrome, Philipsen took the best of Pedersen and Politt.
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck): “This special moment won’t last forever”
What happened today is actually hard to believe. I won Roubaix again alongside my team, that was even stronger that last year. I’m super proud of the boys and super happy to finish it off. I’ve been feeling very good for a long time, and today has been my best day in this Classics season.
“I had not really planned to attack that early. I wanted to make the race hard from that point on, as I know that’s my strength, and I thought it was a good moment to attack because the group was too large and the cooperation was not really good. Once I got the gap, I knew I could make it to the finish line as I was on a very good day and the tailwind would help me keep my rivals at bay.
“In Roubaix, a setback or a puncture is never far away. But I had quite a gap, and the car behind me, so I was confident. I could really enjoy the moment more than I did last week in Flanders, when I was at my limit. Today I felt incredible and I could really enjoy the final part.
“It definitely isn’t normal to win Roubaix twice. When I was a child, I couldn’t imagine all the races I’m winning now. I was super motivated coming into this year, as I wanted to show the rainbow jersey in a nice way… but this has gone beyond my expectations. I am a bit lost for words. This special moment won’t last forever, and I want to enjoy.
“I hope Jasper will win Roubaix in the future. I believe he has proved yet again today that he is well capable of that. We will try to make it next year again… yet, before that, we are going to throw a big party tonight.
“If everything goes as planned, I will take part in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. It’s a pity that a few contenders won’t be there in the Ardennes classics, yet it will be difficult to win there anyway and I will try to do my best in order to make it happen.”
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck): “What did we have for breakfast? We just had porridge and oat pancakes, nothing special!!”
“What did we have for breakfast? We just had porridge and oat pancakes, nothing special!! But yeah, everyone in team was on his top level today. Maybe I didn’t have my best day, as I did have in Milano-Sanremo, but I was riding on a defensive position and I was able to follow wheels for a long time. That gave me an edge in the closing kilometres. With Mathieu at the front, it was clear who was the strongest today.
“It’s the management and the riders that make the team great. You also need to have good luck, and to work hard and do things right. Our team succeeds in all this, yet you can’t expect to be first and second in Roubaix every year. It is really special and we need to enjoy it.
“I like Paris-Roubaix. It is a race that motivates me and I love the cobbles, so why not targeting it in the future. But, as for today, there was one rider who was clearly the strongest, and on top of that he was my teammate.
“We showed the strength of our team today. Everyone was committed and on his best shape. By setting a tempo earlier on we avoided a lot of stress while putting some pressure on the others. Yet of course you still need the legs to finish it off, like Mathieu did.
Mads Petersen (Lidl-Trek): “Mathieu was on a different league today”
“To be honest, I’m really happy. Mathieu [Van der Poel] was on a different league today. The way he was racing was impressive. When he attacked, we all were riding flat out not to allow him any gap, yet we couldn’t close in. At one point he was still gaining time and the race for second started. In the final, we were still riding all out and then [Jasper] Philipsen had a go in Gruson. [Stefan] Küng got dropped and from then on Jasper wanted to pull as well. Yet he is very strong and had been sitting on the wheel for a while. Defeating him on a sprint is already a tough ask for me, so losing the second place was not going to be a disappointment. I assumed I was sprinting for 3rd, and knew Nils could beat me on a sprint, so I was happy to secure the podium place at the finish.
“In the Tour of Flanders, I raced with my head in my own ass. Today I tried to play it better, yet Mathieu was impressive and I couldn’t follow his winning move. Can I beat him on a Monument? I don’t know yet. I have zero excuses today. I was definitely at my 100% and was defeated by better boys today.
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I’m pretty sure having Jonathan Milan around would have changed things a lot. It would have been very nice to have yet another teammate with me. It was pretty bad for us that he crashed out, and I hope he is okay.
“We are going to celebrate this nice Classic season with the team tonight, and tomorrow I will go home to my wife. I haven’t seen her a lot since January. It’s time to rest.”
