In a league of his own
Mathieu van der Poel was once again untouchable on the French pavé, writes Tom Thewlis in Roubaix
Mathieu van der Poel was lost for words as he sat down to answer questions from reporters in his race winners’ press conference at Paris-roubaix.
As he walked into the media centre, he would have no doubt seen the pictures on the walls of all the Roubaix greats – Roger de Vlaeminck, Eddy Merckx, Franceso Moser and more – whose names are now permanently etched into the legend of the hallowed velodrome.
Van der Poel has now firmly earned his place alongside them, taking his second Roubaix title last weekend after launching an unanswerable attack, 60 kilometres from the finish, on the Orchies cobbled sector.
Notably, the Dutchman has now become the first rider to win both the Tour of Flanders and Roubaix in the same season while wearing the world champion’s rainbow jersey. None of cycling’s past august figures were able to match such a feat in their time, not even Merckx himself.
“It definitely isn’t normal to win all these races,” Van der Poel said, reflecting on another day of sheer brilliance. “I could only dream of this when I was a kid. Also, the rainbow jersey makes it even more special of course. I could’ve never imagined all the races I would win now. I just focused on cyclo-cross when
I was younger.
“It’s really amazing and I tried to enjoy the last part of the race which I couldn’t do in Flanders because I was on my limit there. Today I felt better still in the finale so I tried to enjoy it because it’s a special moment and it won’t last forever.”
Van der Poel’s Alpecin-deceuninck team put on a tactical masterclass on the cobbles to allow their talisman to shape the race to his will.
Once Van der Poel had taken flight, Gianni Vermeersch and Jasper Philipsen marked every attempt from the likes of Mads Pedersen to bridge across, before Philipsen then sealed his second Roubaix runner-up spot in the final kick for the line in the velodrome.
“I think we showed the strength of our team today,” Philipsen told the media. “Everyone was really committed and in their best shape… On the cobbles it’s better to ride on the front rather than at the back and I’m glad we had a guy like Mathieu to finish it off.” Surprisingly, Van der Poel’s attack was not pre-planned – he said he had wanted to ride Roubaix on instinct.
“I never really make a plan,” he explained. “They [team management] asked me this time to communicate when I was going to attack and I did, but I also didn’t expect to be alone after one attack. But it gives you wings of course if you have a nice gap immediately and hear on the radio that the gap is increasing all the time.”
“The rainbow jersey makes it even more special”