Alpecin-Deceuninck’s Mathieu Van der Poel delivered a masterpiece in the 2024 Paris-Roubaix, pulling off a long-range solo attack and a number of records that now belong in history. Following his Tour de Flanders victory last Sunday, he becomes the 10th-ever rider to win the cobbled Monument double, and the second-ever to achieve it while wearing the rainbow jersey after Rik van Looy in 1962. His 60-kilometre solo ride to the Vélodrome André Pétrieux becomes the longest winning move in the 21st century, while his 3’00” winning margin is the largest in the last 20 editions of the race. His teammate Jasper Philipsen crossed the finish line 2nd, re-enacting the one-two that Alpecin-Deceuninck already sealed in 2023, with Lidl-Trek’s Mads Pedersen rounding out the podium.

1 VAN DER POEL Mathieu NED Alpecin-Deceuninck 05:25:58
2 PHILIPSEN Jasper BEL Alpecin-Deceuninck 03:00
3 PEDERSEN Mads DEN Lidl-Trek 03:00
4 POLITT Nils GER UAE Team Emirates 03:00
5 KÜNG Stefan SUI Groupama-FDJ 03:15
6 VERMEERSCH Gianni BEL Alpecin-Deceuninck 03:47
7 PITHIE Laurence NZL Groupama-FDJ 03:48
8 MEEUS Jordi BEL BORA-hansgrohe 04:47
9 WÆRENSKJOLD Søren NOR Uno-X Mobility 04:47
10 MIHKELS Madis EST Intermarché-Wanty 04:47
11 DEGENKOLB John GER Team dsm-firmenich PostNL 04:47
12 WRIGHT Fred GBR Bahrain Victorious 04:47
13 VAN GESTEL Dries BEL TotalEnergies 04:47
14 FEDOROV Yevgeniy KAZ Astana Qazaqstan Team 04:47
15 WELLENS Tim BEL UAE Team Emirates 04:47
16 VAN DIJKE Tim NED Team Visma | Lease a Bike 04:47
17 PIDCOCK Tom GBR INEOS Grenadiers 06:20
18 MALECKI Kamil POL Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team 06:22
19 VAN DIJKE Mick NED Team Visma | Lease a Bike 06:22
20 SLOCK Liam BEL Lotto Dstny 06:22
21 KRISTOFF Alexander NOR Uno-X Mobility 06:28
22 TEUNISSEN Mike NED Intermarché-Wanty 06:28
23 BIERMANS Jenthe BEL ARKEA-B&B HOTELS 06:28
24 NAESEN Oliver BEL Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale 06:28
25 LAPORTE Christophe FRA Team Visma | Lease a Bike 06:28
26 BISSEGGER Stefan SUI EF Education-EasyPost 06:28
27 ABRAHAMSEN Jonas NOR Uno-X Mobility 06:33
28 TILLER Rasmus NOR Uno-X Mobility 07:00
29 BITTNER Pavel CZE Team dsm-firmenich PostNL 07:00
30 GACHIGNARD Thomas FRA TotalEnergies 07:01
31 VAN ASBROECK Tom BEL Israel-Premier Tech 07:16
32 EEKHOFF Nils NED Team dsm-firmenich PostNL 07:16
33 STEIMLE Jannik GER Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team 07:16
34 PAGE Hugo FRA Intermarché-Wanty 07:16
35 ALLEGAERT Piet BEL Cofidis 07:16
36 LAMPAERT Yves BEL Soudal Quick-Step 07:16
37 ASKEY Lewis GBR Groupama-FDJ 07:16
38 JACOBS Johan SUI Movistar Team 07:16
39 DECLERCQ Tim BEL Lidl-Trek 07:16
40 DE PESTEL Sander BEL Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale 07:16
41 GRADEK Kamil POL Bahrain Victorious 07:16
42 VAN LERBERGHE Bert BEL Soudal Quick-Step 07:16
43 VACEK Mathias CZE Lidl-Trek 07:22
44 HAGENES Per Strand NOR Team Visma | Lease a Bike 07:29
45 PLANCKAERT Edward BEL Alpecin-Deceuninck 08:05
46 SARREAU Marc FRA Groupama-FDJ 08:09
47 THEUNS Edward BEL Lidl-Trek 08:40
48 SWIFT Connor GBR INEOS Grenadiers 08:47
49 WALSCHEID Max GER Team Jayco-AlUla 09:34
50 PASQUALON Andrea ITA Bahrain Victorious 09:34
51 BJERG Mikkel DEN UAE Team Emirates 09:34
52 VERMOTE Julien BEL Team Visma | Lease a Bike 09:34
53 HOOLE Daan NED Lidl-Trek 09:34
54 TURGIS Anthony FRA TotalEnergies 09:34
55 DUJARDIN Sandy FRA TotalEnergies 09:34
56 VAN MOER Brent BEL Lotto Dstny 09:34
57 GAUTHERAT Pierre FRA Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale 09:34
58 SWIFT Ben GBR INEOS Grenadiers 09:34
59 PLANCKAERT Baptiste BEL Intermarché-Wanty 09:38
60 SÉNÉCHAL Florian FRA ARKEA-B&B HOTELS 09:45

172 riders took the start on the 121st edition of Paris-Roubaix at 11:26, off to ride 259,7 kilometres between Compiègne and the Vélodrome André Pétrieux in Roubaix with 29 cobbled sectors to be covered. 2022 winner Dylan van Baarle (Visma | Lease a Bike) was a last-minute withdrawal, and so were UAE Team Emirates’ Michael Vink and Astana Qazaqstan’s Michael Mørkøv. It took ‘only’ 22 kilometres for Per Strand Hagenes (Visma | Lease a Bike), Rasmus Tiller (Uno X Mobility), Kasper Asgreen (Soudal-Quick Step), Marco Haller (Bora-Hansgrohe), Liam Slock (Lotto-dstny), Gleb Syritsa (Astana Qazaqstan) and Kamil Malecki (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) to go clear. Shortly after, Dusan Rajovic (Bahrain Victorius) and Dries de Bondt (Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale) also took off in a bid to join the breakaway that was only successful 80 kilometres into the race. A big crash at kilometer 37 meant the end of the race for Lidl-Trek’s Jonathan Milan and Ineos Grenadiers’ Elia Viviani, affecting as well the likes of UAE Team Emirates’ Nils Politt, EF’s Alberto Bettiol and Intermarché’s Laurenz Rex amongst others.

Alpecin-Deceuninck kept the race on a tight leash
54,1 kilometres were covered in the first hour of racing as the riders benefited from remarkable tailwinds. The maximum gap for the break was clocked at 1’40”, 76 kilometres into the race, over a peloton led by Lidl-Trek and Alpecin-Deceuninck. The cobbles started with Sector 29, Troisvilles to Inchy (km 96 – 2,2 km) ***, upon which the break only had 1’25” on a pack that was blown the pieces by Alpecin-Deceuninck’s steady tempo on the pavé. The breakaway was eventually reeled in 120 kilometres into the race by a 40-strong group with Mathieu Van der Poel’s teammates at the helm. Meanwhile, podium contenders such as Visma’s Christophe Laporte, Soudal’s Yves Lampaert, Arkéa’s Luca Mozzato or Movistar’s Oier Lazkano and Iván García Cortina were dropped for good. Josuha Tarling’s race came to an end at sector 24 from Capelle to Ruesnes (km 129,3 – 1,7 km) *** as the race jury disqualified him for holding onto the Ineos Grenadiers’ team car following a puncture.

First attack by Van der Poel in the Arenberg Forest
Lidl-Trek’s Mads Pedersen led the front group into the Trouée d’Arenberg (km 164,4 – 2,3 km) *****, where Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) launched a powerful acceleration. Only his teammate Jasper Philipsen, Mick van Dijke (Visma | Lease a Bike) and the aforementioned Pedersen could keep up with his effort, that was frustrated just out of the cobbles when Philipsen punctured. The front group reformed, and three riders rose to the occasion to establish a new breakaway out of Sector 18 from Wallers to Hélesmes (km 167.4 — 1.6 km) ***: Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates) and Gianni Vermeersch (Alpecin-Deceuninck). The latter did not cooperate as he was protecting the chances of his leader, and the move was shut down by Lidl-Trek with 68 kilometres to go.

The rainbow jersey powered away 60 kilometres from the finish
Vermeersch led the front group into sector 13, Orchies (km 199,5 – 1,7 km) ***, where Van der Poel attacked with 60 kilometres to go to power solo up the road. No one could match his acceleration and the Dutch rider quickly built a sizable gap, clocked at 3’00” with 10 kilometers to go, and therefore defended successfully his 2023 victory. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates), Stefan Küng, Laurence Pithie (Groupama-FDJ) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) went clear from the chasing group during the Mons-en-Pévèle (km 211,1 – 3 km) ***** cobbled sector, fighting for the two remaining podium spots. Pithie crashed out of contention with 30 kilometers to go, while Küng got dropped in Gruson (km 244,8 – 1,1 km) **. In the three-up sprint that settled things down between the chasers at the Vélodrome, Philipsen took the best of Pedersen and Politt.