Peerless Mathieu van der Poel wins second Paris-Roubaix in a row
Mathieu van der Poel won Paris-Roubaix for the second year in a row on Sunday. The Dutchman broke away from his rivals with 63km to go, setting a new record for the longest winning solo in the race's history.
Just under three minutes later, teammate Jasper Philipsen sprinted to second place - also for the second year in a row - ahead of Mads Pedersen and Nils Politt.
With 63km to go, the reigning world champion unleashed a devastating acceleration which he maintained all the way to the finish line. In doing so, he set a new record for the longest solo victory of all time at Paris-Roubaix, beating Andrei Tchmil's 60km solo in 1994.
Van der Poel is the 11th rider to win the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix in the same week. Tom Boonen (2005 and 2012) and Fabian Cancellara (2010 and 2013) are the only ones to have done it twice. After Rik Van Looy in 1962, Van der Poel is the second rider ever to win both Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders as world champion.
With Lotte Kopecky's victory on Saturday, both world champions celebrated in Roubaix. It is the first time since 2016 that both men's and women's world champions have won the same classic.
© BELGA PHOTO DAVID PINTENS
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