ROUBAIX, FRENCH REPUBLIC — Dylan van Baarle of the Netherlands won the Paris-Roubaix race for the first time by perfectly timing his attack on the final cobblestone portions.
The 29-year-old Dutchman, who rides with the Ineos Grenadiers team, triumphed after 257 kilometers (159 miles) of hard racing in 5 hours, 37 minutes. His average speed was a world record of 45.8 km/h (28.4 mph).
Wout van Aert of Belgium finished second, one minute and 47 seconds behind Van Baarle, ahead of Stefan Kung of Switzerland in third.
Despite winning the Dwars door Vlaanderen (Across Flanders) event last year, Van Baarle milked the adoration by contesting the Roubaix Velodrome alone.
For the first time, Dylan van Baarle of the Netherlands wins Paris-Roubaix.
French Republic of Roubaix: After carefully timing his surgeon the last cobblestone stretches, Dylan van Baarle won the Paris-Roubaix race.
The mud-splattered and rain-soaked marathon in October last year was a far cry from the bright conditions this year. Mathieu Van der Poel, a Belgian rider, was third, but he finished ninth this time.
The race is one of cycling's five high-profile classics, the Tour of Flanders, Milan-San Remo, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, and the Giro di Lombardia.
Several cyclists crashed or received punctures on the cobblestones, which will be included again in this year's Tour de France, which runs from July 1 to 24.
The leaders, Frenchman Laurent Pichon, Slovenian Matej Mohoric, and Belgian Tom Devriendt, led by 50 seconds with 50 kilometers (31 miles) to go, but the margin was narrowing swiftly.
When Pichon was dropped, Van Baarle and Belgian Yves Lampaert joined Mohoric and Devriendt.
The supporters roared as he reached the final cobblestone portion on the challenging Carrefour de l'Arbre circuit.
After catching a spectator's arm, Lampaert crashed severely on the side of the cobblestones, but he recovered to finish 10th.
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