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Spring Classics

Van der Poel Targets Record-Equalling Fourth Paris-Roubaix as Alpecin Regroup After Flanders

CYCLING LOOKOUT • 4 APRIL 2026

For the first time in four springs, Mathieu van der Poel arrives at Paris-Roubaix without the Tour of Flanders winner's jersey still warm on his shoulders. Tadej Pogacar's devastating solo at the Ronde on Easter Sunday ended Van der Poel's two-year reign over the Flemish Monument and left the Dutchman third behind Mads Pedersen in Oudenaarde. Now, with seven days until the Hell of the North on April 12, Van der Poel and Alpecin-Deceuninck must regroup and refocus on the race where he has been virtually untouchable.

The numbers speak for themselves. Van der Poel has won Paris-Roubaix three consecutive times — 2023, 2024 and 2025 — a streak of cobblestone dominance that places him among the all-time greats. A fourth victory on April 12 would tie the records of Roger De Vlaeminck and Tom Boonen, two names etched permanently into Roubaix folklore. No rider in the history of the sport has won the Hell of the North in four consecutive editions, meaning Van der Poel could simultaneously equal and surpass records that have stood for decades.

His Flanders defeat, while painful, may paradoxically serve him well. Van der Poel has spoken openly about the mental toll of defending multiple Monuments across the same spring campaign, and the removal of one title to protect could sharpen his focus entirely on the pavé. "The cobbles are where I feel most at home," he said at the E3 Saxo Classic earlier this spring. "Roubaix is a different kind of race. It rewards the strongest rider on the day, and I always believe I can be that rider."

Alpecin-Deceuninck will build their entire Roubaix strategy around their leader. The team's performance at Flanders — where they were outnumbered and out-manoeuvred by UAE Team Emirates-XRG's controlled demolition of the race — exposed the limits of relying on a single exceptional talent against a team with depth. For Roubaix, sports director Christoph Roodhooft has signalled a shift in approach, with Gianni Vermeersch, Jasper Philipsen and Silvan Dillier all expected to play more assertive roles in the secteurs before the decisive Carrefour de l'Arbre and the approach to the Roubaix velodrome.

The threat list is formidable. Pogacar's own Roubaix ambitions are well-documented — the world champion has completed an exhaustive reconnaissance of the cobbled sectors and has admitted he would prefer to win Roubaix over a fifth Tour de France. Wout van Aert, whose agonising spring of near-misses has left him desperate for a Monument breakthrough, will be dangerous on the long sectors where his time-trial engine translates into raw cobblestone power. And the likes of Mads Pedersen, Filippo Ganna and Stefan Küng can all win if the race fragments in their favour.

Van der Poel's 2025 Roubaix victory — an Alpecin-Deceuninck one-two with Vermeersch — demonstrated exactly how the team at their best can control the race's brutal final 50 kilometres. Vermeersch was instrumental in driving the pace through the Mons-en-Pévèle sector and neutralising attacks, allowing Van der Poel to conserve energy for his signature late acceleration. If they can replicate that template, few in the peloton have the power to respond.

The weather may play its part too. Early forecasts suggest the possibility of rain in northern France on April 12, which would transform the already treacherous pavé into a slippery gauntlet where bike-handling skills and nerve matter as much as pure watts. Van der Poel's cyclocross background gives him an edge in such conditions — his ability to pick lines through mud and standing water at speed is unmatched in the professional peloton.

History awaits at the Roubaix velodrome. Four wins would place Van der Poel alongside Boonen and De Vlaeminck in the pantheon of the greatest Paris-Roubaix riders ever. For a racer who has already accomplished things that seemed impossible in the modern era, the challenge of matching cycling's cobblestone immortals is the kind of motivation that brings out his very best. On April 12, the Hell of the North may witness something extraordinary.

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