Dylan van Baarle won Paris-Roubaix after an amazing yet thrilling finale, his performance during the last 18km of the race and the way he handled himself on the cobbles of Camphin-en-Pévèle stood out. Dylan got to share the podium with Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) and Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ).
This victory is well-sought, after Dylan’s solo attack at Mons-en-Pévèle. His team, Ineos Greanaiders split the race at the very start, so he had to carry himself to the finale. During the last 45 kilometers of the event, he was finally joined by other contenders.
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This year’s Paris-Roubaix turned out to be the fastest edition of the event, every contender gave their absolute best. After the late section of Cysoing, Van Baarle joined in with Yves Lampaert (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl), Matej Mohorič (Bahrain Victorious) and Tom Devriendt (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux). Tom Devriendt was the most surprising one of the bunch, this group was later on chased by Mathieu Van Der Poel and Wout van Aert.
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In sheer pressure, Van Baarle was able to find the strength within and made his way to Camphin-en-Pévèle. It was there he left behind Mohorič and Lampaert to take the ultimate lead. An average speed of 45.8 kph was recorded at this year’s Paris-Roubaix.
Although this year’s Paris-Roubaix was delayed by a week, the anticipation was still sky-high. With anticipation, also came desperation, after Ineos Grenadiers split the race before the cobbles, Matej Mohorič went for the offensive, and that too before the Arenberg Forest watershed, this made things more tricky.
You could see that this year’s Paris-Roubaix was very different, the narrative was changing after every moment, and it was unclear who would win at first. The only thing which was clear was Ineos Grenadiers’ strength and resolve. In the end, Van Baarle showed immense courage and strength and achieved a fitting victory.
After the race, Van Baarle said in sheer excitement:
It’s unbelievable. I couldn’t believe it when I went on the velodrome, you know. I looked at the other side to see if there were some other guys. When the team car came up next to me with Servais [Knaven]. then I really started believing in it. It’s been crazy.
I mean, it’s a Monument, so of course, I wanted to win a Monument. To be second in Flanders and then to win Roubaix, I’m lost for words.
This year’s Paris-Roubaix was a sight to behold, we did not just witness amazing moments but also unexpected and surprising ones. One of the highlights is when Yves Lampaert crashed at a spectator while hunting for a podium spot.
There were 175 contenders in the race, and the event was sprawling over a massive distance of 257km route from Compiègne to Vélodrome André Pétrieux in Roubaix. The contenders also had to cross 54.8km of cobbles split across different sectors so the difficulty kept on changing.
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Featured Image Via YouTube/Cycling Pro Net
