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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