ANALYSIS: The stats that make Mathieu van der Poel’s Paris-Roubaix hat-trick so impressive

On Sunday, Mathieu van der Poel made history. Again.

Winning Paris-Roubaix for the third consecutive year, the Dutchman cemented his status not just as the modern king of the cobbles, but as one of the very best one-day riders the sport has ever seen. His win in the 2025 edition of the “Hell of the North” was historic not just for the drama on the road, but for the sheer volume of statistical milestones it has eitherconfirmed or created.

Let’s break them down, and see why this hat-trick is already being called one of the greatest achievements in modern cycling.

Only two riders in history had ever won Paris-Roubaix three times in a row: Octave Lapize in 1909, 1910, and 1911, and Francesco Moser in 1978, 1979, and 1980. Van der Poel now joins that exclusive club with back-to-back wins in 2023, 2024, and 2025.

In the modern era, with deeper fields, better preparation, and even more unpredictable racing, achieving three consecutive wins in the same Monument is almost unthinkable. But Van der Poel has done it. Not just any Monument either, but Paris-Roubaix, the most unpredictable and brutal of them all. He becomes the third rider ever to achieve this triple, and the first in 45 years.

Van der Poel has now raced Paris-Roubaix five times. He has won three of those editions. That’s a win rate of 60% (!), outrageous consistency in a race where even the favourites often crash out or lose time due to punctures and mechanical issues.

His worst finish? Ninth place in 2022. That’s the only time he has finished outside the top three in this race, and in fact, it was also the last time he failed to podium in a cobbled Monument of any kind. There is simply no one else doing what Van der Poel is doing over the pavé.

Perhaps even more impressively, Mathieu van der Poel is now the only rider in history to have won a cobbled Monument in four consecutive seasons, according to Cycling Statistics. His winning streak includes the Tour of Flanders in 2022, Paris-Roubaix in 2023, Tour of Flanders again in 2024, followed by Paris-Roubaix in both 2024 and 2025.

That’s five cobbled Monument wins in four years, something no rider has ever achieved. Not Merckx, not Boonen, not Cancellara. He is, quite simply, the undisputed king of the cobbles.

This year’s result also delivered something that has never happened before: the same three riders stood on the podium at both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix in the same season. At Flanders, it was Tadej Pogacar first, Mads Pedersen second, and Van der Poel third. A week later, on the brutal roads of northern France, the Dutchman turned the tables, Van der Poel won, ahead of Pogacar and Pedersen. Meanwhile, Wout van Aert finished fourth in both races, highlighting just how consistent the top tier of one-day racing has become.

These four names have defined the cobbled Classics era, and Van der Poel sits firmly at the top.

With this victory, Mathieu van der Poel now owns eight Monument titles. Those are three Paris-Roubaix wins in 2023, 2024 and 2025, three Tour of Flanders wins in 2020, 2022 and 2024, and two Milano-Sanremo wins in 2023 and 2025. That places him ahead of Tom Boonen in terms of total Monument wins. And that’s significant, but why?

Earlier in 2024, Belgian legend Tom Boonen said: “I achieved in one season what Mathieu van der Poel has accomplished in his entire career.” At that time, the comparison was close. But since then, Van der Poel has added another Ronde, another Sanremo, and another two Roubaix.

Boonen, widely regarded as the greatest cobbled rider of his generation, won three Rondes and four Roubaix titles, but never managed to win Roubaix three times in a row. Nor did he ever win Milan-Sanremo. Now aged 30, Van der Poel already holds a more complete Monument resume, and is within touching distance of matching Boonen’s Roubaix record total in just one more attempt. Can he equal Boonen and Roger De Vlaeminck’s record of four Roubaix wins in 2026? Would you really bet against him?

The modern era of one day races is defined by a trinity: Van der Poel, Tadej Pogacar, and Remco Evenepoel. Since the 2022 season, Van der Poel has eight wins, Pogacar has seven, and Evenepoel has four, meaning the trio have claimed 19 of the last 22 major one-day titles including: the five Monuments, the World Championships, and the Olympic road race.

That’s an astonishing 86.3% win rate across the most prestigious one-day races in the world by just three riders. Van der Poel leads the trio, and shows no sign of slowing down.

With cobbled history made, and Monument records falling, the question now is: what next for Mathieu van der Poel? Strangely, his next road race isn’t expected until July, when he returns for the 2025 Tour de France. That’s where his career, statistically speaking, looks surprisingly underwhelming.

In 2021, Van der Poel won Stage 2 of the Tour and wore the yellow jersey for six days, a dream debut. But since then, he hasn’t won another stage. Instead, he has acted primarily as a lead-out man for Jasper Philipsen, playing a pivotal role in Philipsen’s Tour stage wins and green jersey exploits.

He’s been brilliant in that role, but many fans believe his talents are worthy of more than support work. Van der Poel has the power, speed, and tactical brilliance to win more than just a single Tour stage. The early week of the 2025 Tour, with flatter finishes and short, punchy finales, may finally give him the opportunity to add another prestigious road stage to his palmarès.

Despite his road exploits, Mathieu van der Poel has made it clear that there is one title he now wants above all else: the mountain bike world championship. It’s the only major rainbow jersey missing from his remarkable cross-discipline career.

His current tally includes eight Monuments, one road world title, one gravel world title, and seven cyclocross world titles, and if he makes it eight next winter, he will break the record. Only the mountain bike elite jersey remains unclaimed. With the spring campaign behind, Van der Poel has refocused his ambitions toward completing the rainbow set. In fact, the Dutchman will not race in the road race this season, as he will instead be targeting the mountain bike world championships in August.

If he achieves it, he will hold the most diverse palmarès in modern cycling, and possibly in all of cycling history.

Mathieu van der Poel’s third consecutive win at Paris-Roubaix is more than just a victory, it’s a statistical landmark in a career already overflowing with them. Let’s recap the important stats:

He is the first rider to win a cobbled Monument in four consecutive years. He’s only the third to win Roubaix three times in a row. He has a 60% win rate at Paris-Roubaix across five starts. This year was the first time the Flanders and Roubaix podium matched exactly. He now stands ahead of Tom Boonen in total Monument victories. And he’s been dominant in the biggest races: eight of the last 22 one-day majors have been his.

In an era of specialists, Van der Poel has proven that excellence across formats is still possible. With Monument wins, rainbow jerseys across three disciplines, and a Tour de France stage win already secured, the only mystery now is just how far he can go.

He may not race again until July, but this win ensures that when he does, the entire cycling world will be watching. Because with Mathieu van der Poel, every start line could be a new chapter in history.