Van der Poel wins Paris-Roubaix, arriving at the finish line in tears. Ganna in the race to the end

Phenomenal Mathieu van der Poel. After the Milan-San Remo, the Dutchman also won the Paris-Roubaix, imposing himself by posting after having placed the winning acceleration on the Carrefour de l’Arbre, the last stretch of five-star pavé, with 16 km to go. The winning moment came after a near contact between Van der Poel himself and Degenkolb, with the German – the last, before Mathieu, to win Sanremo and Roubaix in the same year, in 2015 – ended up on the ground, in the dust. At that point a group of seven riders was on the attack, with, even a very good Philip Ganna, author of an intelligent race and finished in 6th place. A Roubaix raced at an exaggerated average speed: 46.8 km/h, the fastest ever. The three monument classics of 2023 Van der Poel won San Remo and Roubaix and finished in second place behind Pogacar in Flanders.

The defining moment of Paris-Roubaix

On the Carrefour, therefore, the decisive moment: Van der Poel attacked, taking himself with him Wout Van Aert. However, the Belgian was the victim of a puncture in the final meters of the sector and was first forced to change wheels, then to chase his eternal rival in the company of Jasper Philipsen, Vdp teammate at Alpecin. A very unwelcome and passive company. Van der Poel flew away maintaining a thirty second advantage, enough to arrive alone in the Petrieux velodrome.

Ganna sixth, with regret

Ganna ran well, he got caught in the Arenberg Forest, where he was delayed after the breakup of the group due to a fall, but immediately mended Van der Poel and the others. The race took place right there, so much earlier than usual. After the Forest a group of 11 was formed, then reduced to 7: Van der Poel, Van Aert, Philipsen, Ganna, Kung, Degenkolb, Pedersen. Van der Poel gave the first jab with 50 to go, without effects. Everything has been decided on Carrefour. Ganna, 6th at the end, with a dirty face, has a bit of regret: “The last km never went by, from Carrefour onwards it was a pain. We have done a great team job. In the end I missed my legs. A bit of regret, also because I had to deal with people who pretended to have cramps and then sprinted. Now see you at the Giro”.