Alpecin-Deceuninck thriving after difficult start to the season: "At the beginning of the year there were some doubts"

Alpecin-Deceuninck flew to a massive result at Paris-Roubaix. After a slow and difficult start to the season, they only took their first win at Tirreno-Adriatico. In the space of a month the Belgian team has taken several World Tour wins including two of the three monuments, as Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen rode to a one-two this afternoon at Paris-Roubaix.

“We had a lot of confidence for this race. The plan was to be in the top fifteen with three, so I think we succeeded well," Jonas Rickaert said in the velodrome of Roubaix. He was inside the team's plans to attack early on, and was a key piece to keep the team ahead of the competition in the race's flat first half. "If you are with three men out of thirteen, then you are among the strongest teams."

Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen then rode to a very strong performance, taking an incredible win. After winning Milano-Sanremo the Dutchman wins his second monument of the year, with Jasper Philipsen astonishingly riding to a second place, beating an unlucky Wout van Aert who punctured towards the end. “We took control from the start. That was our strength here, always at the front and never in trouble. You just force that, that you are in the front with three. That is really a great performance from the team."

Not only do World Tour points flow in, but so does the success in the classics. The team were criticized early in the year on social media for their lack of results, but they have completely turned that around. "Getting a one-two here is very nice. What Jasper does is also very strong. He's also doing really well. At the beginning of the year there were some doubts, but we have now cycled them away," Rickaert concluded.