Latest news with #QueenoftheClassics
Al Etihad
14-04-2025
- Sport
- Al Etihad
UAE Team Emirates XRG's Pogačar secures historic second at Paris-Roubaix race
ABU DHABI (WAM) Tadej Pogačar of the UAE Team Emirates XRG became the first reigning Tour de France champion to podium Paris-Roubaix since Eddy Merckx in 1975. After a breathtaking battle with Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), the world champion finished second in the Roubaix Velodrome, writing his way into the history books. As Van der Poel was able to celebrate a third victory in a row, Pogačar overcame mechanicals and an unfortunate crash to cross the line alone in second. Behind the race debutant, his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Florian Vermeersch secured fifth place after a gutsy ride that saw him continue his fine spring Classics campaign. After Pogačar, Van der Poel and Lidl-Trek's Mads Pedersen had blown the race to pieces heading into the Trouée d'Arenberg, it looked as though the winner might come from a select group. This became ever more likely as Pogačar and Van der Poel became a leading duo alone, but the world champion ran wide on a right-hand bend, allowing Van der Poel to take the initiative and ride to the finish alone. Speaking to the media after the finish, the second-placed Pogačar reflected on a memorable debut outing at the Queen of the Classics. 'Today was a great race for our team, with two guys in the top five. We can come back next year with a strong team again and be motivated to fight for victory over the next few years.
Reuters
13-04-2025
- Sport
- Reuters
Van der Poel beats flamboyant Pogacar to extend Roubaix reign
ROUBAIX, France, April 13 - Mathieu van der Poel overcame a fierce challenge by world champion and Paris-Roubaix debutant Tadej Pogacar in a vintage duel to claim his third straight victory in the Queen of the Classics on Sunday. Pogacar, who was looking to become the first Tour de France winner to also prevail in the 'Hell of the North' since Bernard Hinault in 1981, overcooked a turn and lost his balance on a cobbled section, leaving his rival clear one week after taming the Dutchman on the Tour of Flanders. Van der Poel did not look back and after Pogacar threatened to close the 20-second gap, increased his lead before snatching his eighth title in a Monument classic after also winning Milan-Sanremo (2023 and 2025) and the Tour of Flanders (2020, 2022 and 2024). The former world champion, who had a bottle thrown at his face by a spectator, is the first rider to win Paris-Roubaix three times in a row since Italian Francesco Moser (1978-80). Despite his light weight - a big disadvantage on cobbled roads - and a scare on Van der Poel's first offensive move, Pogacar dealt several blows until making a fatal mistake. "It means a lot, it's such a hard race, I was really suffering. Too bad Tadej had his mistake in this corner, I just had to go it, quite still far from the finish line. I'm happy to make it to the finish line," said Van der Poel. "The speed was the super high, I think he misjudged the turn a bit, I was just quick enough to save it. I don't know what happened afterwards. That's part of racing." Van der Poel's brutal attack 87km from the finish left Pogacar gasping for air and prompted the Slovenian to request his team's assistance for glucose gels. After recovering, Pogacar accelerated with 71km left as Denmark's Mads Pedersen, another pre-race favourite, suffered an untimely puncture. Van der Poel again attacked in the cobbled section of Mons-en-Pevele and his own team mate Jasper Philipsen could not follow, leaving the Dutchman and Pogacar in a tight battle. It fizzled out, however, when Pogacar made his costly mistake on a sharp bend and after a change of bike for the Slovenian in the finale, there was no reason to panic for Van der Poel when he punctured. Pogacar, however, still became the first Tour champion since Eddy Merckx in 1975 to end up on the Paris-Roubaix podium. Pedersen took third place, completing a podium of road race world champions.
The Independent
13-04-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
Mathieu van der Poel overcomes bottle in the face and Tadej Pogacar threat to win dramatic Paris-Roubaix
Mathieu van der Poel overcame a fierce challenge by world champion and Paris-Roubaix debutant Tadej Pogacar, as well as being hit in the face by a bottle thrown by an idiotic spectator, to claim his third straight victory in the Queen of the Classics. Pogacar, who was looking to become the first Tour de France winner to also prevail in the 'Hell of the North' since Bernard Hinault in 1981, overcooked a turn with 38km to go and lost his balance on a cobbled section, heading into the crash barriers to leave his rival clear one week after taming the Dutchman at the Tour of Flanders. Van der Poel did not look back and, although Pogacar threatened to close the 20-second gap, ultimately increased his lead despite a late puncture that required a quick tyre change to snatch his eighth title in a Monument classic after also winning Milan-San Remo (2023 and 2025) and the Tour of Flanders (2020, 2022 and 2024). The former world champion, who had a bottle thrown at his face by a spectator, is the first rider to win Paris-Roubaix three times in a row since the Italian Francesco Moser (1978-80). 'It means a lot. It is such a hard race and I was really suffering,' Van der Poel said after his victory. 'Too bad Tadej had his mistake in the corner. 'I just had to go for it but it was still quite hard until the finish line. It was really hard, especially with the last two sectors with the headwind, I was really struggling. I am happy to make it to the finish line.' And despite being beaten by Pogacar a week ago, the Dutchman insisted revenge wasn't on his mind during the race. 'No, not really,' smiled Van der Poel. 'I'm just happy I found my good legs again. But we all know what an incredible champion Tadej is. What he does here in his first Roubaix, it does not surprise me but it is also not normal. He is just an exceptional talent. 'Probably, it would have been the two of us going to the velodrome if he does not make a mistake. So, I guess we will see him back next year to take his revenge.' Despite his light weight – a big disadvantage on cobbled roads – and a scare on Van der Poel's first offensive move, Pogacar dealt several blows until making a fatal mistake. Van der Poel's brutal attack 87km from the finish left Pogacar gasping for air and prompted the Slovenian to request his team's assistance for glucose gels. After recovering, Pogacar accelerated with 71km left as Denmark's Mads Pedersen, another pre-race favourite, suffered an untimely puncture. Van der Poel again attacked in the cobbled section of Mons-en-Pevele and his own teammate Jasper Philipsen could not follow, leaving the Dutchman and Pogacar in a tight battle. It fizzled out, however, when Pogacar made his costly mistake on a sharp bend and after a change of bike for the Slovenian in the finale, there was no reason to panic for Van der Poel when he punctured. Pogacar, however, still became the first Tour champion since Eddy Merckx in 1975 to end up on the Paris-Roubaix podium. Pedersen took third place, completing a podium of road race world champions, with Fred Wright the best Brit in ninth.
The Guardian
13-04-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Van der Poel fends off Pogacar and bottle thrown at face to win Paris-Roubaix
Mathieu van der Poel overcame a bottle thrown at his face, a puncture and a fierce challenge by the world champion, Tadej Pogacar, to claim his third straight victory in the Queen of the Classics. The debutant Pogacar, who was looking to become the first Tour de France winner to also prevail in the 'Hell of the North' since Bernard Hinault in 1981, overcooked a turn and lost his balance on a cobbled section, leaving his rival clear one week after taming the Dutchman on the Tour of Flanders. Van der Poel did not look back and after Pogacar threatened to close the 20-second gap, increased his lead before snatching his eighth title in a Monument Classic after also winning Milan-Sanremo (2023 and 2025) and the Tour of Flanders (2020, 2022 and 2024). The former world champion is the first rider to win Paris-Roubaix three times in a row since the Italian Francesco Moser (1978-80). While about 20 seconds clear on a cobbled section, a bottle thrown from low down in a throng of spectators struck him in the face. 'Who on earth comes to a bike race to do that? What are you playing at?' said Rob Hatch on TNT Sports. 'Just scumbags,' added his colleague Adam Blythe. 'I can't believe someone is doing this. It's just beyond belief. The good news is it didn't affect him – but yeah, disgusting. Just do one. Don't bother coming out.' Despite his light weight – a big disadvantage on the cobbles – and a scare on Van der Poel's first offensive move, Pogacar dealt several blows until making a fatal mistake. Van der Poel's brutal attack 87km from the finish left Pogacar gasping for air and prompted the Slovenian to request his team's assistance for glucose gels. After recovering, Pogacar accelerated with 71km left as Denmark's Mads Pedersen, another pre-race favourite, suffered an untimely puncture. Van der Poel again attacked in the cobbled section of Mons-en-Pevele and his teammate Jasper Philipsen could not follow, leaving the Dutchman and Pogacar in a tight battle. It fizzled out, however, when Pogacar made his costly mistake on a sharp bend and after a change of bike for the Slovenian in the finale, there was no reason to panic for Van der Poel when he punctured a tyre. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Pedersen took third place, completing a podium of road race world champions. 'It means a lot. It's such a hard race, I was suffering. I just had to go for it,' Van der Poel said. 'I'm just happy I found my good legs again. We know what an incredible champion Tadej is. 'The speed was super-high and he missed the turn a bit. It was the two of us going into the velodrome if he didn't make the mistake. I think it would have been very difficult to drop him.' Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt won the women's race on Saturday, its first French winner.
