Mathieu van der Poel was the winner of the 120th edition of “L’Enfer du Nord”, but the course was not without controversy. Dutchman Jasper Philipsen finished second and Wout van Aert crossed the finish line third.
The hundred and twentieth edition of the third of this year’s monuments, Paris – Roubaix, led from the city of Compiègne, very important from the point of view of historical events, to the Roubaix cycle path. No difficulty was expected over the first nearly one hundred kilometers, and all the fun was to start about 160 kilometers before the finish line, when the first of the thirty cobbled sections was marked out.
From the start of the race, the battle was fierce to be in the breakaway of the day. Finally, 172 kilometers from the finish, the peloton of skirmishers was made up of four riders: Jonas Koch (Germany, Bora – Hasgrohe), Derek Gee (Canada, Israel – Premier Tech), Sjoerd Bax (Netherlands, UAE Team Emirates) and Juri Hollmann (Germany, Movistar team). Their advantage at peak moment was only two minutes, because in the peloton the teams of the favorites were busy with a relatively high pace.
During the passage through sector number twenty (Haveluy a Wallers), the cyclists of the Jumbo – Visma team decided to separate the main group. Following strong traction from Wout van Aert (Belgium, Jumbo – Visma), six riders broke away from the peloton: Christophe Laporte (France, Jumbo – Visma), van Aert, Stefan Küng (Switzerland, Groupama – FDJ), Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands, Alpecin-Deceuninck), John Degenkolb (Germany, Team DSM) and Madis Mihkels (Estonia, Intermarché – Circus – Wanty). Then came the time for the famous five-star Lasek Arenberg. In this section, the peloton chasing the second group of the peloton was completely broken up. In the middle of it there was a big accident, in which Dylan van Baarle (Netherlands, Jumbo – Visma), Kasper Asgreen (Denmark, Soudal – Quick Step) and Jonathan Milan (Italy, Bahrain – Victorious) suffered, and the riders who still felt strong decided to try a jump into the group of van der Poel and van Aert.
In the Arenberg forest, Derek Gee was eliminated from the breakaway due to a fault, and Christophe Laporte was left behind the second group for the same reason just after leaving this sector. Madis Mihkels, however, couldn’t keep up the pace in the Arenberg Forest. After a while, the group of van der Poel and van Aert caught up with the leading trio, followed by Mads Pedersen (Denmark, Trek – Segafredo), then: Jasper Philipsen (Belgium, Alpecin-Deceuninck), Gianni Vermeersch ( Belgium, Alpecin-Deceuninck), Filippo Ganna (Italy, Ineos Grenadiers), Max Walcheid (Germany, Cofidis) and Laurenz Rex (Belgium, Intermarché – Circus – Wanty). Thus, a group of thirteen people formed at the head.
Laporte, after ten kilometers of solitary pursuit, was caught up by the peloton, which was nearly two minutes behind the first group. About seventy kilometers from the line, Jonas Koch and Jonas Hollmann remain in the lead. In the same sector, the pace of the peloton was upset by the riders of the Jumbo – Visma team, because the race did not go their way, despite the presence of Wout van Aert in the lead. Two cyclists from this team broke away from the main group: Laporte and Nathan van Hooydonck (Belgium), followed only by Florian Vermeersch (Belgium, Lotto Dstny). Ten kilometers later, the trio caught up with Koch and Hollmann, but the two Germans couldn’t hold off the stronger rivals for long, who were about a minute behind the summit.
During the passage in sector number twelve, Sjoerd Bax abandoned the first group, and in the last meters of this sector, Mathieu van der Poel decided to accelerate. His attack reduced the lead to nine cyclists, as Gianni Vermeersch was unable to rejoin the group after sector twelve. However, just before the start of the five-star Mons-en-Pevele, Max Walscheid decided to attack, but his action was quickly canceled by Filippo Ganna. After a while, van der Poel picked up the pace, but again his acceleration did not bring the expected result, because only Walscheid and Rex did not stay on his wheel.
Just after leaving sector number eleven, already on the asphalt at the time of the clear relaxation, the Dutchman from the Alpecin-Deceuninck team attacked again. Only Wout van Aert was able to maintain his pace, but the cooperation between the two riders did not go well, so the other five managed to join them. After these accelerations, van der Poel also increased the loss of the pursuit to the summit to more than a minute and a half.
After nearly thirty peaceful kilometers, comes the time for the last five-star sector of the day, the Carrefour de l’Abre. On this stage, there was a clash between Mathieu van der Pol and John Degenkolb, following which the German fell. The Dutchman appears to have crushed the DSM team rider as he entered his lane and pushed him off the road. At the same time, Wout van Aert attacked, but van der Poel quickly managed to join him. At the end of the sector, the Dutchman escaped from the Belgian, forced to change a wheel because of a deflated rear tire.
After all the commotion at Carrefour de l’Abre, behind van der Poel’s back, a five-man pursuit team formed: van Aert, Filippo Ganna, Jasper Philipsen, Mads Pedersen and Stefan Küng. With just over ten seconds remaining, the second group was about twenty-five seconds behind the Dutchman.
When passing through sector number two, van Aert decided to charge, and his pace was held by Philipsen and Pedersen, but this push was not allowed to bring success. The Belgian again tried to give chase, four kilometers before the finish, breaking Pedersen from the steering wheel.
Mathieu van der Poel arrived at the finish line, located on the Roubaix circuit, in complete safety. The only question is whether he should be disqualified for the clash with Degenkolb. In the competition for second place, Jasper Philipsen was faster, sealing the double for the Alpecin-Deceuninck team, and the podium was completed by Wout van Aert.
