Paris-Roubaix: Mathieu van der Poel defends title with 60km solo

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Mathieu van der Poel on his way to a commanding solo victory at the 2024 Paris-Roubaix

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) confirmed his status as the overwhelming pre-race favourite with an overwhelming victory to take his second Paris-Roubaix title.

When the dust was settled, Van der Poel rolled across the line in the Roubaix velodrome with a three-minute victory ahead of his teammate Jasper Philipsen, who made it a second consecutive Alpecin-Deceuninck one-two at the event. Even though the victory was solo, the one-two result was reflective of the performance from the whole Alpecin-Deceuninck team that netted them their third straight monument victory. From early doors, Alpecin-Deceuninck took the mantle of race favourites and used it to pulverize the race into a leading peloton of just 30 riders with 100km to go. At that point, it seemed as if the question of a Van der Poel race-winning was a question of when rather than if.

Ultimately, the three-star Orchies sector was the moment. As Van der Poel skidded away from the rest of the peloton, it was clear that the world champion was untouchable as Mad Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) couldn't stop the gap from rapidly sailing above the minute mark. While Pedersen came across the line best of the rest in third, it was clear that nobody would be stopping Van der Poel and Alpecin-Deceuninck in this edition of the Hell of the North.

Read more: Paris-Roubaix – Mathieu van der Poel defends title with 60km solo exhibition

Paris-Roubaix 2024 overview

While the Classics ‘Holy Week’ may begin with the Tour of Flanders, it wouldn’t be complete without Paris-Roubaix.

The men’s race, which will take place on Sunday, 7 April, is one of cycling’s five Monuments and one of the most popular due to its iconic bone-rattling cobblestones, unpredictable outcomes and the legacy of 122 editions.

Paris-Roubaix runs from Compiègne – which is, unlike the name suggests, a full 100km from the centre of Paris – to the northern French town of Roubaix near Lille, following a well-established 259.9 km route. This year, the route is 3.3km longer with an additional 3.2km of cobblestones added to make the total distance of the rough stuff, 55.7km. Of those 55.7km spread across 29 sectors, the most arduous sections of the Trouée d'Arenberg, Mons-en-Pévèle and the Carrefour de l'Arbre will be the main plot points of the race before it reaches its grand finale on the boards of the Roubaix velodrome.

Leading the line in 2024 will be the reigning Paris-Roubaix champion, new three-time Tour of Flanders champion and current world champion Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck). While Van der Poel is the undisputed leading light for this edition of Paris-Roubaix, dominating on the cobblestones of France is not the same as dominating on the cobblestones of Belgium. To recreate his winning ride from 2023, it will take the stellar form, which he most certainly has, but also his fair share of luck. After all, Paris-Roubaix, in all its hellish glory, waits for no man no matter how great.

Paris-Roubaix 2024 key information

When is the Paris-Roubaix 2024? Paris-Roubaix will take place on Sunday, 7 April.

Where does the 2024 Paris-Roubaix take place? Paris-Roubaix runs from Compiègne, France to Roubaix, France.

Who won the Paris-Roubaix in 2023? Mathieu van der Poel won the 2023 race solo ahead of his teammate Jasper Philipsen and Wout van Aert.

When did the Paris-Roubaix start? The first edition of Paris-Roubaix was in 1896 and was won by Josef Fischer.

Who has the most wins at the Paris-Roubaix? Roger De Vlaeminck and Tom Boonen both have four wins at the race.

What is the route for the 2024 Paris-Roubaix?

The 2024 Paris-Roubaix follows its traditional track from Compiègne to the Roubaix velodrome. The stats for this year are up, slightly, with 255.9km total and 55.7km of cobblestones. Of all the monuments, Paris-Roubaix is the race with the least climbing at a mere 1,414 metres of gain. Nevertheless, the difficulty of the race is still palpable as the cobblestone sections make a big difference.

Those sectors begin almost 100km into the race with the first of the 29 cobblestone sectors at Troisville à Inchy. The next nine sectors come thick and fast over the next 50km before the big sections begin first with the long Haveluy à Waller at just over 100km to go. Waller is just the start, however, as it is followed by the fearsome Trouée d’Arenberg which begins the extended endgame of Paris-Roubaix at 90km to go. The Trouée d’Arenberg is the first of the three “five-star” sections which denote the most challenging sectors of cobblestones.

After Arenberg, the race calms slightly, with only one sector coming over the next 10km before the sectors start to become relentless with the last 18 sectors packed into the last 85km.

While there are potential pitfalls on every sector, there are a few that stand out. The first is the long, twisting five-star Mons-en-Pévèle sector that ends at around 50km to go. Mons-en-Pévèle is a section that almost always has elements of mud, even if the rest of the course is on the dry side, and it has a steep crown with many corners. These factors lead to technical ability being paramount and offer a major attack point for the strong riders who might be looking to avoid a sprint or reduce the number of favourites.

Mons-en-Pévèle is followed by several short sectors as the remaining favourites and their domestiques manoeuvre in anticipation of the final crucial section which begins with just over 20km to go. The final crescendo begins with the Camphin-en-Pévèle four-star section which leads directly into the last of the five-star sectors: Carrefour de l’Arbre.

Carrefour de l’Arbre is the last decisive point before the final sprint in the velodrome. Crashes and flats are common and can spell doom to a rider's chances, as we saw with Wout van Aert last year. While Trouée d’Arenberg might be the roughest and Mons-en-Pévèle might be the most technical, Carrefour de l’Arbre is the set piece that can always turn the race upside down.

After Carrefour de l’Arbre there are two more relatively easy sectors of cobbles along the last 15km but once the riders pass the famous cafe on the sector all eyes turn to the one-and-a-half laps of the velodrome which offers road racing one of its few opportunities to have a true stadium finish.

Which teams are racing the Paris-Roubaix in 2024?

Paris-Roubaix is a WorldTour race and will see the full collection of 18 WorldTour teams take on the race. Seven ProTour teams will also be at the race making up the full 25-team peloton of 175 riders.

WorldTour teams:

• Alpecin-Deceuninck
• Arkéa-B&B Hotels
• Astana Qazaqstan
• Bahrain Victorious
• Bora-Hansgrohe
• Cofidis
• Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
• EF Education-EasyPost
• Groupama-FDJ
• Ineos Grenadiers
• Intermarché-Wanty
• Lidl-Trek
• Movistar Team
• Soudal Quick-Step
• dsm-firmenich PostNL
• Jayco AlUla
• Visma-Lease a Bike
• UAE Team Emirates

ProTour teams:

• Lotto Dstny
• Israel-Premier Tech
• Uno-X Mobility
• Bingoal WB
• Q36.5 Pro Cycling
• Team Flanders-Baloise
• TotalEnergies

What happened at the 2023 Paris-Roubaix?

Mathieu van der Poel won the 2023 edition of Paris-Roubaix ahead of his teammate Jasper Philipsen, who outsprinted Wout van Aert for second place in the velodrome. Van Aert and Van der Poel were together in the lead of the race on the last key sector of cobbles on the Carrefour de l'Arbre before Van Aert flatted, ceding the lead to Van der Poel who rode on to a solo victory as Philipsen caught Van Aert and outkicked him to the finish.

Paris-Roubaix's previous winners

2023 Mathieu van der Poel (Ned)

2022 Dylan van Baarle (Ned)

2021 Sonny Colbrelli (Ita)

2020 No race (COVID-19 pandemic)

2019 Philippe Gilbert (Bel)

2018 Peter Sagan (Svk)

2017 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel)

2016 Mat Hayman (Aus)

2015 John Degenkolb (Ger)

2014 Niki Terpstra (Ned)

2013 Fabian Cancellara (Swi)

2012 Tom Boonen (Bel)

2011 Johan Vansummeren (Bel)

2010 Fabian Cancellara (Swi)

2009 Tom Boonen (Bel)

2008 Tom Boonen (Bel)

2007 Stuart O'Grady (Aus)

2006 Fabian Cancellara (Swi)

2005 Tom Boonen (Bel)

2004 Magnus Backstedt (Swe)

2003 Peter Van Petegem (Bel)

2002 Johan Museeuw (Bel)

2001 Servais Knaven (Ned)

2000 Johan Museeuw (Bel)

1999 Andrea Tafi (Ita)

1998 Franco Ballerini (Ita)

1997 Frederic Guesdon (Fra)

1996 Johan Museeuw (Bel)

1995 Franco Ballerini (Ita)

1994 Andrei Tchmil (Mol)

1993 Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle (Fra)

1992 Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle (Fra)

1991 Marc Madiot (Fra)

1990 Eddy Planckaert (Bel)

1989 Jean-Marie Wampers (Bel)

1988 Dirk Demol (Bel)

1987 Eric Vanderaerden (Bel)

1986 Sean Kelly (Ire)

1985 Marc Madiot (Fra)

1984 Sean Kelly (Ire)

1983 Hennie Kuiper (Ned)

1982 Jan Raas (Ned)

1981 Bernard Hinault (Fra)

1980 Francesco Moser (Ita)

1979 Francesco Moser (Ita)

1978 Francesco Moser (Ita)

1977 Roger De Vlaeminck (Bel)

1976 Marc Demeyer (Bel)

1975 Roger De Vlaeminck (Bel)

1974 Roger De Vlaeminck (Bel)

1973 Eddy Merckx (Bel)

1972 Roger De Vlaeminck (Bel)

1971 Roger Rosiers (Bel)

1970 Eddy Merckx (Bel)

1969 Walter Godefroot (Bel)

1968 Eddy Merckx (Bel)

1967 Jan Janssen (Ned)

1966 Felice Gimondi (Ita)

1965 Rik Van Looy (Bel)

1964 Peter Post (Ned)

1963 Emile Daems (Bel)

1962 Rik Van Looy (Bel)

1961 Rik Van Looy (Bel)

1960 Pino Cerami (Bel)

1959 Noel Fore (Bel)

1958 Leon Van Daele (Bel)

1957 Alfred De Bruyne (Bel)

1956 Louison Bobet (Fra)

1955 Jean Forestier (Fra)

1954 Raymond Impanis (Bel)

1953 Germain Derycke (Bel)

1952 Rick van Steenbergen (Bel)

1951 Antonio Bevilacqua (Ita)

1950 Fausto Coppi (Ita)

1949 André Mahe (Fra) =1

1948 Rick van Steenbergen (Bel)

1947 Georges Claes (Bel)

1946 Georges Claes (Bel)

1945 Paul Maye (Fra)

1944 Maurice Desimpelaere (Bel)

1943 Marcel Kint (Bel)

1939 Emile Masson Jnr (Bel)

1938 Lucien Storme (Bel)

1937 Jules Rossi (Ita)

1936 Georges Speicher (Fra)

1935 Gaston Rebry (Bel)

1934 Gaston Rebry (Bel)

1933 Sylvere Maes (Bel)

1932 Romain Gyssels (Bel)

1931 Gaston Rebry (Bel)

1930 Julien Vervaecke (Bel)

1929 Charles Meunier (Bel)

1928 Andre Leducq (Fra)

1927 Georges Ronsse (Bel)

1926 Julien Delbecque (Bel)

1925 Félix Sellier (Bel)

1924 Jules Van Hevel (Bel)

1923 Henri Suter (Swi)

1922 Albert Dejonghe (Bel)

1921 Henri Pelissier (Fra)

1920 Paul Deman (Bel)

1919 Henri Pelissier (Fra)

1914 Charles Crupelandt (Fra)

1913 François Faber (Lux)

1912 Charles Crupelandt (Fra)

1911 Octave Lapize (Fra)

1910 Octave Lapize (Fra)

1909 Octave Lapize (Fra)

1908 Cyrille Van Hauwaert (Bel)

1907 Georges Passerieu (Fra)

1906 Henri Cornet (Fra)

1905 Louis Trousselier (Fra)

1904 Hippolyte Aucouturier (Fra)

1903 Hippolyte Aucouturier (Fra)

1902 Luc Lesna (Fra)

1901 Luc Lesna (Fra)

1900 Emile Bouhours (Fra)

1899 Albert Champion (Fra)

1898 Maurice Garin (Fra)

1897 Maurice Garin (Fra)

1896 Josef Fischer (Ger)

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Date	Event	Class
29 Jun - 21 Jul	Tour de France	2.UWT
12 Aug - 18 Aug	Tour de France Femmes	2.WWT
4 May - 26 May	Giro d'Italia	2.UWT
28 Apr - 5 May	Vuelta España Femenina	2.WWT

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