{"id":4644,"date":"2023-04-10T11:37:05","date_gmt":"2023-04-10T09:37:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/uk\/?p=4644"},"modified":"2023-04-18T11:40:42","modified_gmt":"2023-04-18T09:40:42","slug":"van-der-poel-wins-paris-roubaix-after-flat-punctures-van-aerts-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/uk\/2023\/04\/10\/van-der-poel-wins-paris-roubaix-after-flat-punctures-van-aerts-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"Van der Poel Wins Paris-Roubaix After Flat Punctures van Aert\u2019s Dream"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceunick) took advantage of a flat tire suffered by his arch-rival, Wout van der Aert (Jumbo-Visma), with 15km to go in the race and rode away to victory in a brutal Paris-Rubaix. The puncture occurred on the five-star (for extremely difficult) Carrefour de l\u2019Arbre section of cobblestone, just after van Aert tried to break away from the group of seven elite riders that had been riding together for 35km.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Van Aert\u2019s doomed breakaway came after van der Poel accidentally nudged John Degenkolb (Team DSM) while trying to pass him, causing him to crash onto the grassy verge. At the time, Degenkolb \u2013 who won the race in 2015 \u2013 looked like a contender for the win.<\/p>\n

The race, which covers 256.6km and includes 29 cobblestone sections totaling 54.4km, is widely known as \u201cthe hell of the North,\u201d and it more than lived up to its reputation. In the first fifteen cobbled sections, there were crashes galore, as well as punctures, exploding tires and broken wheels. One of the crashes forced Peter Sagan (Team TotalEnergies) to abandon his last ever Paris-Roubaix. The seven-time Tour de France SKODA green jersey winner is retiring from road racing after this year and is suffering through a rude farewell tour, having also crashed and abandoned in the Tour of Flanders.<\/p>\n

Though Paris-Roubaix does not have the stature of the Tour de France, and is ranked only 20th<\/a> in road races in terms of startlist quality (the Tour is ranked first), it has a deep emotional value for riders because of the ordeal of riding it. According to Eurosport commentator Philippe Gilbert, who won Paris-Roubaix in 2019, some teams prepare special bikes for it, some of which resemble those used for cyclocross. And though the weather was ideal, with no rain and little wind, the cobblestones were as rough and uneven as always and previous storms had left puddles and mud at the sides of some cobbled sections that caught out many riders.<\/p>\n

Van der Poel\u2019s victory makes him only the second rider, with fellow Dutchman Roger De Vlaeminck, to win both the cyclocross world championship and Paris-Roubaix. Van der Poel\u2019s teammate Jasper Philipsen finished second, 46 seconds behind, with van Aert a very dispirited third. It was a very bad day for Jumbo-Visma tires. Van Aert\u2019s top lieutenant, Christophe Laporte, was riding in the lead group with his leader when he also punctured; he lost 40 seconds, was never able to catch up and finished tenth.<\/p>\n

Van der Poel told Eurosport that his rival\u2019s flat was \u201cunfortunate because otherwise we could have raced together to the finish. You need a bit of luck and good legs to win [Paris-Roubaix], and I had both today.\u201d And he was clearly delighted that Philipsen finished second, saying: \u201cIt can\u2019t be better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 120th edition of what many consider the hardest road race in the world was the fastest Paris-Roubaix ever run, at an average speed of 46.841 km\/h. The previous top average speed of 45.79km\/hwas recorded last year. As the winner put it: \u201cIt\u2019s crazy how fast it went.\u201d That pace \u2013 the first hour was run at an average of 51.4 km\/h \u2013 prevented a successful breakaway from forming until 80km had been raced. The speed, the size of the peloton, the damp cobblestones and the constant jockeying for position within the peloton led to the astonishing number of crashes and mechanical failures. Paris-Roubaix has always been chaotic, but even veteran observers of the race said this was an unusual level of carnage.<\/p>\n

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\ud83d\udfe6\ud83d\udfe6\ud83d\udfe6\ud83d\udfe6\ud83d\udfe6\ud83d\udfe6@mathieuvdpoel<\/a> <\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfc6 2023 #ParisRoubaix<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Zlnr9yjAU4<\/a><\/p>\n

— Paris-Roubaix (@parisroubaix) April 10, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n