Van der Poel finds heaven again in 'Hell of the North'

Mathieu van der Poel has stormed to a second victory in the Paris-Roubaix one-day classic after launching a stunning solo attack 60 km from the finish to win his second cycling 'Monument' of the year following his Tour of Flanders victory last weekend.

On the 260km "Hell of the North" route featuring 29 cobblestone sectors, Dutchman van der Poel's victory on Sunday by three minutes was the largest winning margin in 22 years as he rode to his sixth victory in 'Monument' races - the five biggest classics in the cycling calendar.

As he crossed the line with his arms outstretched, soaking in the crowd's applause, his time of five hours 25 minutes and 58 seconds was recorded as the quickest Paris-Roubaix in history, beating the record he himself had set in 2023.

Van der Poel is only the 10th rider to win both cobbled Monuments -- the Tour of Flanders and Paris Roubaix -- in the same season and only the second rider to do it with the world champion's rainbow jersey on his back, following Rik van Looy in 1962.

"I wanted to make the race hard from there (60km out) on because I know that's my strength. I felt super good today and when I had the gap, I knew I could win with a tailwind to the finish line for the most part," van der Poel said.

"Of course, you always know in Roubaix that there's the possibility of a puncture. But I had the team car with me and I was quite confident.

"I could really enjoy the moment more than last week at Flanders because then I was on my limit. This time, I could really enjoy the last part."

Van der Poel launched his solo attack on sector 13 and quickly built up a huge gap.

Mads Pedersen and Jasper Philipsen were among those who gave pursuit but the pack failed to organise quickly, looking to each other to seize the initiative as the flying Dutchman disappeared into the distance.

Van der Poel also had his Alpecin-Deceuninck teammates behind him to thank as they disrupted the chasing pack and looked to deny riders any breakaway attempts.

As van der Poel rode towards victory, Philipsen decided to accelerate with 14 km to go to seal second place while Pedersen and Nils Politt joined him in a three-way battle for the last two podium spots.

When they entered the famed Roubaix Velodrome, UAE Team Emirates' Politt went for it early but it was Philipsen who finished second for an Alpecin-Deceuninck one-two, while Pedersen was third for Lidl-Trek.

The leading Australian was EF Education-EasyPost's Harry Sweeny in a distant 70th place, while Sam Welsford (BORA-hansgrohe) was 83rd.

With AAP