Mathieu van der Poel wins the Paris-Roubaix cycling classic for the third time in a row. The Dutchman won the 122nd edition of the most prestigious one-day race as a soloist.
13.04.2025, 17:27
SDA
After almost 260 km and 30 pavé sectors, Van der Poel also won the duel with Tadej Pogacar. The three-time Tour de France winner finished second 1:18 minutes behind on his debut in the Hell of the North.
The decision in the duel between the cycling giants was made 38 km before the end when Pogacar took a little too much risk in a seemingly harmless right-hand bend, overshot and crashed on a patch of grass. This mishap, which also caused his chain to come off the rear derailleur, meant that Pogacar lost around 20 seconds to Van der Poel.
Defect doesn't stop Van der Poel either
After the chain was fixed, the Slovenian all-rounder jumped back on his bike and chased after Van der Poel - but to no avail. When he also suffered a technical defect, his morale was broken. Even Van der Poel's defect a good 15 km before the finish did nothing to change that.
The Dutchman triumphed for the third time in a row in Roubaix, something that only two riders had previously achieved: Octave Lapize (1909, 1910, 1911) and Francesco Moser (1978, 1979, 1980). It was Van der Poel's eighth victory in one of the five cycling monuments, the most important one-day races in the world. He thus drew level with Pogacar, who had dominated the competition at the Tour of Flanders last week.
Bissegger in the top 10
The best Swiss rider was Stefan Bissegger in an excellent seventh place. After finishing 62nd, 21st and 26th, the rider from Thurgau showed a strong performance in his fourth participation in Paris-Roubaix. He kept up with the two top favorites until a good 60 km before the end and then found shelter in a smaller chasing group. This group also included Bissegger's compatriot Stefan Küng. But 58 km before the finish, the biggest Swiss trump card, who had recently finished third once and fifth twice, suffered a technical defect. He missed out on the top 40.
Bissegger dropped out of the fight for the last podium place 21 km before the finish. After stepping up the pace, he had to let the Dane Mads Pedersen and the two Belgians Wout van Aert and Florian Vermeersch go. The trio later finished 3rd to 5th in the same order and after a final sprint. Bissegger also finished in a group of three and just under four minutes behind the winner. The Swiss rider was a good one and a half minutes off the podium.
