Crosswinds and cobbles: Dylan van Baarle wins Paris-Roubaix
Ineos Grenadiers' third consecutive 2022 WorldTour victory
Early crosswinds almost overshadowed the cobbles on Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix, as several favourites found themselves in the wrong echelons before the 29 sectors even began. Ineos-Grenadiers won its third consecutive 2022 WorldTour race as Dutchman Dylan van Baarle was the master of the stones, earning the biggest victory of his career. The race’s lone Canadian Guillaume Boivin placed 62nd.
The Course
The 119th Hell of the north was 257.5 kilometers long. The first of 29 cobbled sectors, 2.2 km Troisville, came after a little over 95 kilometers of racing. There were three five-star sectors, the infamous 2.3-km, straight La Trouée d’Arenberg with 93.5 km remaining; 3-km Mons-en-Pévèle with 45 km to go; and 2.1-km Carrefour de l’Arbre with 14 km to race. It was a warm day.
It wouldn’t be cobbles that would provide the havoc in the early part of the race, it would be crosswinds creating echelons. With 50 km until the Troisville sector, Mathieu van der Poel and Wout Van Poel were not in the first group, which was driven by Ineos. Several crashes marked the Troisville and Quiévy à Saint-Python sectors.
Amongst the riders caught out of the front cut, we find?? @mathieuvdpoel , ?? @WoutvanAert & ??@Mads__Pedersen / font partie des coureurs piégés dans le 2ème groupe. #ParisRoubaix pic.twitter.com/aQTH9tApy1
— Paris-Roubaix (@Paris_Roubaix) April 17, 2022
With 128 km and six sectors down, there was a group of 23 containing four Quick Step riders and Canadian champion Guillaume Boivin 1:50 up the road from the van der Poel-Van Aert chase. On the paved roads between Maing à Monchaux-sur-Écaillon and Haveluy à Wallers sectors Milan-San Remo winner Matej Mohorič created a quintet that split from the leading group.
The van der Poel-Van Aert chase finally caught up most of the Boivin group, but there were still seven riders bouncing on the stones ahead.
La Trouée d’Arenberg
The Mohorič quintet hit the forest 50 seconds ahead of a duo trying to bridge and the peloton at +1:30. A puncture whittled the lead group to a quartet. Van Aert seemed to be floundering at the rear of the peloton, having ridden a teammate’s bike. Van Aert and Boivin needed new machines when the race emerged from the forest.
With 86 km remaining, the quartet was 2:00 ahead of the peloton, with a chasing duo in between. Van Aert was still trying to catch up. Hornaing à Wandignies streamlined the quartet to a trio. The Groupama-FDJ-powered field absorbed the chasers, as Van Aert continued to weave his way through the pack.
Finally, Van Aert got on the front foot and started to add some impetus to the chase. This dynamic sculpted a new chase 12-strong group containing Van Aert and van der Poel.
Mons-en-Pévèle
By the time the race reached the second five-star sector, Mohorič’s trio was within a minute of the Van Aert/van der Poel chase. Mohorič was left in a duo. Van Aert accelerated near the end of the sector. Van der Poel and Stefan Küng joined him.
— Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ (@GroupamaFDJ) April 17, 2022
Just as the chase was making inroads, Van Aert punctured. Three minutes later Mohorič flatted and then joined the van der Poel group, as did Van Aert eventually. Tom Devriendt (Belgium/Intermarché- Wanty-Gobert) was the final fugitive left out front. Numerous surges yanked Devriendt closer and finally he submitted to the will of the group with 28 km to go. However, there was yet another Mohorič quartet, this one containing van Baarle, leading ahead of Van Aert and van der Poel on the Cysoing à Bourghelles sector.
The sector that immediately prefaces Carrefour de l’Arbre is four-star Camphin-en-Pévèle. Jasper Stuyven, Van Aert and Küng skipped away before the sector in an effort to claw back Mohorič again. Unlucky Stuyven flatted. On the cobbles Dylan van Baarle uncoupled Mohorič and the others.
Carrefour de l’Arbre to Roubaix
Van Baarle entered the final five-star boneshaker with a small lead. Mohorič and Yves Lampaert continued to pursue him onto the Gruson sector, but it was game over for everyone else. Lampaert crashed after hitting a spectator. Van Aert brought Küng and Devriendt over to Mohorič for the podium battle.
?? @DylanvanBaarle is en route for his first monument, after finishing out of the time limit last year.
?? @DylanvanBaarle en route pour remporter son 1er monument, après avoir terminé hors délai sur #ParisRoubaix l'an dernier.
? A.S.O / @PaulineBallet pic.twitter.com/bQoZoQwJLA
— Paris-Roubaix (@Paris_Roubaix) April 17, 2022
Van Aert beat Küng for runner-up.
La Flèche Wallonne is Wednesday and Liège-Bastogne-Liège falls on next Sunday.
2022 Paris-Roubaix
1) Dylan van Baarle (The Netherlands/Ineos Grenadiers) 5:37
2) Wout Van Aert (Belgium/Jumbo-Visma) +1:47
3) Stefan Küng (Switzerland/Groupama-FDJ) s.t.
62) Guillaume Boivin (Canada/Israel-Premier Tech) 15:28
