PARIS: Mathieu van der Poel claimed one of cycling’s most glittering prizes Sunday, breaking away solo on a dangerous cobbled section for a magnificent solo triumph at the Paris-Roubaix classic. The 28-year-old Dutch rider produced a string of aggressive attacks to shake off stubborn resistance before the decisive move on the epic 256.6km race was sparked by a spectacular fall. The 2023 one-day season is turning out to be Van der Poel’s with a recent triumph at Milan-SanRemo, a narrow miss at the Tour of Flanders a week ago and Sunday’s convincing display of power handing him a fourth triumph in epic one-day races known as Monuments. His teammate Jasper Philipsen finished 46sec behind to beat fellow Belgian rider Wout van Aert into second at the Roubaix velodrome finish-line. An early fall featuring three Ineos riders was pounced upon mercilessly by an elite clique that broke away until only seven top riders were left, including prerace favourites Filippo Ganna, Mads Pedersen, Stefan Kung and 2015 winner John Degenkolb. The action then exploded on the Carrefour de L’Arbre five-star cobbled section with 20km to go when Degenkolb fell sprawled on the ground, several riders swerving to avoid him in a move that caused Van Aert to puncture. Van der Poel burst away and never looked back until he was close to the line.
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