© ASO / Pauline Ballet
Paris-Roubaix: van der Poel, the hero of a record-breaking edition
Mathieu van der Poel won his first Paris-Roubaix, the fourth Monument of his career, at the end of a 120th edition, which was also marked by the bad luck of Wout van Aert. Van Aert punctured at the worst time, at the exit of the Carrefour de l’Arbre, after the two men had just made the difference to separate themselves from their companions.
Van der Poel, aggressive since the start of the day and who had just involuntarily been the cause of German John Degenkolb’s crash, immediately jumped at the chance to fly away to victory. His first Hell of the North victory, which he was able to savor for a long time on the Roubaix velodrome, came at the end of the fastest edition in history (46.841 km / h), raced under a spring sun.
“It’s extraordinary, especially to enter the velodrome alone. We go first and second with Jasper. We are really going to celebrate it tonight because it may never happen again,” van der Poel, the grandson of Raymond Poulidor, happily explained.
The results : 1. Van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) ; 2. Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) ; 3. Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma)…
*****
Paris-Roubaix femmes: the Jackson surprise
Canadian Alison Jackson achieved the greatest success of her career at the age of 34 by winning the 3rd edition of Paris-Roubaix femmes ahead of Italian Katia Ragusa and Belgian Marthe Truyen.
Very active in a breakaway of about twenty riders, to whom the favorites of this race gave too much leeway, Jackson eliminated her opponents over the ensuing kilometers.
The rider from the EF Education-TIBCO-SVB team constantly fueled this offensive while behind, the big favorite of the day Lotte Kopecky struggled to get back up to the lead of the race. The Belgian, the winner of the Tour of Flanders last week, was the first of the favorites to put in a major attack 50km from the finish.
Present in a group of about fifteen riders, the Kopecky was caught up in a crash 37 km from the finish, which ended her dreams of success.
“When we did the reconnaissance of the course this week and went around the velodrome, I dreamed of this victory,” Jackson explained. “Most of the time when you do that, it remains a dream. It is unreal that it has become a reality. I have no words.”
The results: 1. Jackson (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) ; 2. Ragusa (Liv Racing TeqFind) ; 3. Truyen (Fenix-Deceuninck)…
*****
Itzulia Basque Country: Vingegaard puts on a show
Jonas Vingegaard dispelled the doubts. Beaten by Tadej Pogacar and David Gaudu at Paris-Nice, the Dane offered a demonstration on the roads of Itzulia Basque Country. The winner of three stages plus the general classification, the leader of the Jumbo-Visma team was dominant. And the final gap, just over a minute on Mikel Landa, does not say everything about his advantage, especially during the sixth stage where he won with a solo effort of 28 kilometers to seal his success.
“I have to thank my teammates first of all, they were fantastic,” Vingegaard said. “We did a perfect job all week. I had the legs and I felt good. I don’t know if I was the best, but I was able to breakaway and I’m super happy to win a week-long WorldTour stage race for the first time in my career.”
The results: 1. Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) ; 2. Landa (Bahrain-Victorious) ; 3. I. Izagirre (Cofidis)…
Stages won by: Hayter (INEOS Grenadiers) ; Schelling (Bora- Hansgrohe) ; Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) ; Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) ; Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe) ; Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma).
*****
Région Pays de la Loire Tour: Kamp reverses the situation
Alexander Kamp (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) upset the general classification of the Région Pays de la Loire Tour on the last day. Second in the last stage at Le Mans, the Dane won the first edition of the event, beating the odds.
The Danish champion took advantage of his attacking temperament to earn himself the greatest success of his career. “From time to time, the impossible becomes possible. Above all, it was necessary to monitor the various attacks,” Kamp explained. “I am happy with this victory. There were bonus seconds available at the start of the stage, which caused me to lose even more time in the overall standings. It’s one thing to plan, it’s another to execute. It wasn’t easy, but sometimes you need luck and I got it in the end.”
Kamp won ahead of Fredrik Dversnes (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) and Valentin Ferron (TotalEnergies). Note that this first edition was also marked by the domination of Bryan Coquard in the bunch sprints, victorious in two stages.
The results: 1. Kamp (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) ; 2. Dversenes (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) ; 3. Ferron (TotalEnergies)…
Stages won by: Coquard (Cofidis) ; Blikra (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team) ; Coquard (Cofidis) ; Dversenes (Uno-X Pro Cycling Team).
*****
Scheldeprijs: Philipsen can thank van der Poel
Skillfully helped in the final by his teammate Mathieu van der Poel, the Belgian Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) won the Scheldeprijs sprint, ahead of the Australian Sam Welsford (DSM) and the Briton Mark Cavendish (Astana). This is the fourth victory of his season. “It’s never easy to win, but the team made it as easy as possible. It is very nice to see that we have taken the initiative. I thought it was really ambitious, but we managed to reach the finish line in the lead. It’s one of the biggest races of the year for a sprinter, so this victory is important, and I place it high among all my successes,” Philipsen explained.
The results: 1. Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) ; 2. Welsford (Team DSM) ; 3. Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan Team)…
*****
Races to come:
April 11-14 : Giro di Sicilia, https://ilgirodisicilia.it/en/
April 11 avril : Paris-Camembert, https://paris-camembert.fr/
April 12 : La Flèche Brabançonne, https://www.debrabantsepijl.be/fr
April 14 : Classic Grand Besançon Doubs, https://www.classicgrandbesancondoubs.com/
April 15 : Tour du Jura, https://www.tourdujura.com/
April 16 : Amstel Gold Race, https://www.amstel.nl/agecheck?redirect=%2Famstelgoldrace
April 16 : Tour du Doubs, https://www.facebook.com/tourdudoubs/