Dylan Van Baarle earned his first Paris-Roubaix victory for Ineos
Dutch cyclist Dylan van Baarle of Ineos Grenadiers won the 257-kilometer Paris-Roubaix cycling classic on Sunday, appearing in the strong sun with 30 paved sections of dusty old mining roads for a solo victory.
Van Baarle held his head in his hands and crossed the line before jumping off the bike and lifting it into the air while screaming with joy and relief.
The second was Belgian Wout van Aert from Jumba and the third was Swiss Stefan Kung from FDJ after Van Baarle entered the Roubaix velodrome himself.
His victory is doubly special, as Paris-Roubaix, known as the “queen of classics”, is rarely taken by a solo winner due to its exceptional length and difficulty.
The 29-year-old Van Baarle threatened to win such a race after taking a close second place in the recent race in Flanders and the 2021 World Championships.
The winner lowered his last companion in great style to the most difficult paved section of the final part, when Slovenian Matej Mohoric could no longer hold back.
This is also the first time the Ineos Grenadiers have won this race.
The British also recently won the Amstel gold with Poland’s Michal Kwiatkowski, while American Magnus Sheffield won the Brabantse Pijl.
It took Van Baarle 5 hours and 37 minutes on Sunday to complete the 257km course in dry weather, making the 2022 course extremely fast with an average speed of more than 45km / h, with riders avoiding uneven pavers by they raced along the macadam paths beside them.
The often gloomy flat fields surrounding the Belgian border were dazzling green in the Sunday sun in stark contrast to the 2021 mud that occurred in last October’s flood.