"He’s the rightful king of the Classics. All I can say is: chapeau" - Fabian Cancellara pays tribute to Mathieu van der Poel

Last Sunday, Mathieu van der Poel once again proved himself the undisputed ruler of the cobbles by storming to the solo win at Paris-Roubaix for the third straight year. In doing so, the Dutchman equalled the Roubaix tally of the legendary Swiss Classics icon, Fabian Cancellara.

"He was the deserved winner," Cancellara reflected of the race in conversation with Sporza, stressing that despite some bad fortune for Van der Poel's rivals, most notably the world champion Tadej Pogacar, the race was always looking likely to end with the Alpecin-Deceuninck leader celebrating across the line in the velodrome once again. "Tadej Pogacar's crash was unfortunate, but in the end, Mathieu proved he was the strongest."

"He’ll have to pay for dinner now for all the triple - or more - winners," added Cancellara with a laugh, having as mentioned, also managed to triumph at the 'Hell of the North' on three times in his career. "There's definitely a chance he'll become the sole record holder someday. Of course, it's getting tougher with the new generation coming up, but Mathieu is still the rider of the moment. He’s the rightful king of the Classics. All I can say is: chapeau."

When looking at the rest of the contenders, Cancellara was somewhat surprisingly, more impressed with Team Visma | Lease a Bike's Wout van Aert than anyone else. The Belgian has had a tricky few months, but managed to back up his 4th from the Tour of Flanders recently with a 4th at Paris-Roubaix. "Even more than Pogacar or Van der Poel - who once again did what they always do - I was watching Wout closely," explains the Swiss legend. "The whole country watches him and there are huge expectations, but I was glad to see him still up there in the finale. I know what that situation feels like, and it was great to see him keep fighting and never give up."