Mathieu Van Der Poel won Paris-Roubaix for the first time today, taking victory in the French monument after a fifteen-kilometre solo effort.
Jasper Philipsen crossed the line in second to cap a great day for Alpecin-Deceuninck, with fellow Belgian Wout Van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) having to settle for third.
The result means the Dutchman has won two of the three monument classics that have been raced this season.
Van Der Poel said: “It was incredible how we rode as a team today, and with Jasper finishing second, it’s not possible to do better than this.”
It took around eighty kilometres for a breakaway to establish itself, as Sjoerd Bax (UAE Emirates), Derek Gee (Israel Premier-Tech), Jonas Koch (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Juri Holmann (Movistar) found themselves up the road.
Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies) was the first significant casualty of the cobbles, caught up in a crash on sector 28.
Wout Van Aert sparked the first attack from the favourites with over 100 kilometres to go, dragging team-mate Christophe Laporte, John Degenkolb (DSM), Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) and Mathieu Van Der Poel with him.
This put pressure on Bahrain Victorious and Ineos Grenadiers, who sent riders to the front of the peloton ahead of the Trouée d’Arenberg.
The trench saw the races of Kasper Asgreen (Quick-Step), Dylan Van Baarle (Jumbo-Visma) and Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) end, as they were all involved in a crash.
The breakaway was also swallowed up by the chase group including Van Aert and Van Der Poel on the five-star cobblestone sector.
Laporte suffered a flat rear tyre and a slow tyre change, scuppering his chances of rejoining the front group.
A secondary group of favourites made the junction to the lead group, including two team-mates for Van Der Poel, Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) and Mads Pedersen (Trek-Segafredo) in the 13-strong head of the race.
Multiple attacks from Van Der Poel reduced the lead group to seven, as Degenkolb, Ganna, Küng, Pedersen, Van Der Poel and Van Aert had Jasper Philipsen for company entering the final 50 kilometres.
The latter entered Carrefour De L’Arbre first, with Van Der Poel looking to launch an attack and move into the right-hand gutter, where Degenkolb already was.
The Dutch rider had nowhere to go with Philipsen drifting rightward and veered across into Degenkolb, who fell out of contention after a spirited ride.
Van Aert pushed in the cobbled sector, with Van Der Poel stuck to his rear wheel.
However, that wheel would puncture towards the end of the sector, leaving the former Dutch national road-race champion with a clear path to take his maiden Paris-Roubaix victory.
Philipsen sealed a superb 1-2 for Alpecin Deceuninck, beating Van Aert in a two-up sprint.
Van Der Poel said: "I think I had one of my best days on the bike. I felt really strong and I tried to do a couple of earlier attacks but it was really hard to drop the other guys."
"I found myself alone in front and I just rode as hard as I could until the finish line."