
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) became only the third rider in history after Octave Lapize and Francesco Moser to take three consecutive wins in Paris-Roubaix when he finished 1:18 ahead of world champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), with Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) taking third ahead of Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease as Bike) and Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).
The Dutchman’s success was anything but the cakewalk that those margins might suggest. From the moment the race reached the first of 30 sections of cobbles, van de Poel was locked in battle with Pogačar, their duel eventually becoming a gripping head-to-head as the pair dropped the other favourites.