“Our goal was simply to get Mathieu and Jasper into the final” - Silvan Dillier on Alpecin-Deceuninck’s dominant performance at Paris-Roubaix

Alpecin-Deceuninck reaffirmed their position as the team of the Classics so far on Sunday, as they took the victory at Paris-Roubaix with Mathieu van der Poel riding to victory and Jasper Philipsen taking the runner-up spot in the sprint behind. This marked back-to-back 1-2 victories at the Hell of the North for the Belgian team, with Van der Poel and Philipsen taking the top two places on the podium for the second year in a row.

With Monument victories at Milano-Sanremo and the Ronde van Vlaanderen already this year, as well as wins at the Classic Brugge-De Panne and the E3 Saxo Classic, the team came into the race as the clear favourites and they lived up to that status. They controlled the race throughout the day, chasing down the breakaway and gradually whittling down the group before Van der Poel launched his decisive attack with around 60km to go.

Speaking after the race, Alpecin-Deceuninck rider and former runner-up at Paris-Roubaix Silvan Dillier commented on the team’s approach to the race, as he said “we never discussed when or how we would attack. Our goal was simply to get Mathieu and Jasper into the final. Then you have to see how the race unfolds and when there is a moment to go. Mathieu is very good at seeing these moments and he is not afraid to make an effort”.

On the team’s 1-2 victory, Dillier said in his reaction that “we really wrote a piece of history today. It is almost unbelievable what we have achieved. Already last year, but now it went even better. It’s crazy”.