Dutch rider Mathieu Van der Poel benefited from the last accident of Tadej Pogacar on Sunday to win the Paris-Roubaix race for the third consecutive year. Althegh van der Poel had a puncture with 16 kilometers remaining, changed bicycle without wasting much time and entered only in the Roubaix velodrome. They lay down their heads and then raised three fingers when he crossed the finish line in 5 hours, 31 minutes, 27 seconds.
Pogacar received a strong ovation and stirred the crowd when he finished second, 1 minute, 18 seconds behind. Danish riders Mads Pedersen took third place after a three -way sprint to the line, ending 2:11 behind Van der Poel.
The debut appearance of Pogacar in the one -day classic saw him seeking to become the first champion of the Tour of France to win it from Bernard Hinault in 1981. The race of 259.2 kilometers is called “the hell of the north” Bercause Adobiche. Pogacar discovered it with 38 kilometers for the end.
The 26 -year -old Slovenian was elbow with Van der Poel when he judged a turn in a cobbled section and entered the barriers of the clash. Althegh was unharmed, his chain came out and had to change bicycle, wasting crucial time. Then, when he perfected with 20 kilometers to the end, his possibilities of victory had gone.
The exhausting race is one of the five “monuments” in one day cycling along with Liege-Bastogne-liège, the Lombardy tour, Milan-San Remo and the Flanders tour. Van der Poel and Pogacar have won eight monuments each. Van Der Poel, 30, added another prestigious victory to his brilliant career and surpassed Pogacar again after beating him last month in the prestigious Milan-san rowing, which Pogacar has never won.
On Saturday, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot exceeded the disease and an accident to win the Paris-Roubaix female race for the first time after a very intermittent solo getaway.
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