Paris-Roubaix: Politt convinced
Van der Poel “floats” to the Hellride triumph
April 7, 2024, 6:20 p.m
In the cycling world, the cobblestone classic Paris-Roubaix is feared. After bad crash scenes in recent weeks, the stars are looking forward to the high-speed race with concern. In the end, world champion Mathieu van der Poel impressed again, and the German Nils Politt was also in strong form.
When Mathieu van der Poel completed his triumphal journey with his arms outstretched on the concrete track in the venerable Velodrome of Roubaix, he had finally crowned himself the cobblestone king in the hell of the north. The Dutch world champion stormed to his second triumph in the feared spring classic Paris-Roubaix in an impressive manner and, as with his coup at the Tour of Flanders a week ago, didn’t give the competition for Nils Politt from Cologne the slightest chance. After 259.7 kilometers, including 55.7 kilometers over the hard pavés from the times of Napoleon, van der Poel came out on top with a long solo ride ahead of his team colleague Jasper Philipsen and the Dane Mads Pedersen.
The best German was the strong Politt in fourth place in an unprecedented high-speed race. The 30-year-old, who had already finished second in Roubaix in 2019, had even been able to dream of a really big coup in a three-man leading group. Veteran John Degenkolb, the 2015 winner, was also in the front field for a long time despite a tire defect at the wrong time.
But van der Poel was – once again – in a league of his own. “Mathieu van der Poel hovers a bit above everyone else. He is the only one who can beat himself,” said Degenkolb and he was right. With 59.7 kilometers to go, MvP pulled away from his rivals with a powerful attack on the dusty dirt road in Orchies. The competition no longer had an answer. Van der Poel is the first rider since Swiss classics specialist Fabian Cancellara in 2013 to achieve the rare double of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
Relief after bad fall scenes
The feared rain did not materialize in northern France at the weekend, so the track was only damp in a few places. Accordingly, the number of falls was limited. After the terrible fall scenes of the past few days, this was relieving news for the industry. Just on Thursday, Danish Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard and time trial world champion Remco Evenepoel from Belgium suffered numerous broken bones after a violent crash. The two stars, like all-rounder Wout van Aert (Belgium), who was caught in Across Flanders, will be out for weeks.
This time, too, there was no “Russian roulette” in the infamous Arenberg forest, as race director Thierry Gouvenou had put it with reference to previous dramas. The organizers had defused the cobblestone section with a chicane just before the entrance to the forest to prevent speeds of up to 70 km/h. But the obstacle did not stop van der Poel from initiating a first test of strength. The world champion increased the pace so much that only three riders could follow.
The fact that the exquisite group – former world champion Mads Pedersen was also there – did not pull away alone 95 kilometers from the finish was due to a defect by van der Poel’s teammate Jasper Philipsen from the Alpecin-Deceuninck racing team. The top favorite didn’t want to lose the winner of Milan-Sanremo at his side so early in the race. This also gave Degenkolb a chance to catch up again after his defect at the end of the Arenberg Forest.
Then it was Politt, who, together with the Swiss Stefan Küng and the Belgian Gianni Vermeersch, escaped with a lead of half a minute. The 30-year-old from Cologne is in strong form this spring. He had already sprinted to third place in Flanders – albeit far behind winner van der Poel.