(Roubaix) Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel escaped with 60 km to go to win the Paris-Roubaix cycling race for a second consecutive year on Sunday.
Without the presence of his rival Wout van Aert, who suffered multiple injuries during the race through Flanders in March, van der Poel dominated the grueling 260km route from his start in Compiègne until in Roubaix, in the north of France.
When he increased the pace with 60 km to go, his opponents were unable to keep up.
The road cycling world champion showed a lead of almost three minutes when he entered the Vélodrome, in Roubaix, in the north of France.
“I could never have dreamed of this when I was a child. I’m really at a loss for words, but I’m going to try to enjoy this moment, van der Poel said. My legs felt amazing today.
“Actually, it’s hard to believe, but maybe I was even stronger than last year,” he added. I had a very good day. »
Van der Poel finished the event in 5 hours 25 minutes and 58 seconds. His teammate at Alpecin-Deceuninck, the Belgian Jasper Philipsen, finished in second place, ahead of the Dane Mads Pedersen in the sprint.
The Paris-Roubaix is one of the five flagship cycling events contested over a single day. The Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Tour of Lombardy and the Milan-San Remo are the others.
Van der Poel won six times in these races, but Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Tour of Lombardy are still missing from his record.