On the cobbles, Mathieu van der Poel is unrivalled. The Dutch rider has once again put in a performance that will be remembered forever. This Sunday he triumphed in the 121st edition of Paris-Roubaix, a classic known as the 'Hell of the North' for its extreme toughness. 

He did it like a champion. With a solo breakaway of more than 60 kilometres and a lead of more than three minutes over the second placed rider, his teammate Jasper Philipsen.

The 29-year-old Dutch world champion won the Tour of Flanders a week ago. That makes him the true master of the cobbled spring classics. In Roubaix, after a brutal 260km race that included 57km of cobblestones, nobody could touch him.

"This is way beyond my expectations, there will be a big party tonight. I was at the limit in Flanders, but here I really enjoyed the last few kilometres," he said at the finish. And so it was. He celebrated in style after being cheered on by huge crowds for over the last 50 kilometres, according to AFP. He also rode solo in Flanders and put on a show.

He's one of the highest paid riders in the sport. He's capable of winning on any terrain, anywhere. Van der Poel is a road and cyclo-cross world champion, a feat achieved by very few. He will have his name engraved on a plaque in the outside showers. This is where riders usually wash off mud splashes. These typical showers used in the early editions of the classic have become a symbol.

His winning time of 5h:25:58 was the fastest in the history of the event, which first took place in 1896. He flew over the 46 mph average on a hellish course and managed the difficult task of winning when he's the favourite and all eyes are on him. "I just wanted to make it difficult for the others. It wasn't meant to be the winning move, but after that I had the wind at my back," said Van der Poel.

Van der Poel's Belgian teammate Jasper Philipsen was second and Danish rider Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek was third. They fought a three-way sprint to the line with German Nils Politt from the United Arab Emirates. The race went perfectly for Alpecin-Deceuninck, with Van del Poel and Philipsen repeating last year's positions.

Politt told AFP before the race: "You need a bit of luck to win here and to avoid punctures. He did indeed have punctures, but so did Pedersen and Philipsen. There were crashes, breakdowns and setbacks. In a 260-kilometre race full of traps, that's the norm.

"I was confident that I wouldn't get a puncture, but the team car was always right behind me," said the winner, who crossed the finish line without any worries. He is one of the few top riders this season who hasn't suffered any setbacks.

Pedersen was also pleased with the result. "He is impressive. Mathieu was in a league of his own. He's impressive. I just couldn't follow him. I didn't know how to beat him. I was 100 per cent, but I was beaten by better guys," he admitted. Switzerland's Stefan Kung, who finished fifth, said after the race: "I can tell my grandchildren that I raced against him. He's the best cyclist in the world.".

The decisive moment came on the cobbles, when Van der Poel went from 40km/h to 60km/h in the blink of an eye, destroying the lead group of around 12 riders, including Britain's Tom Pidcock. He rode when he wanted and how he wanted. He began to open up a gap and by the time they reached the finish in the Roubaix velodrome he was nowhere to be seen.

Pidcock lost a key supporter when his Ineos teammate Josh Tarling was disqualified. Tarling was disqualified for holding on to a team car while trying to catch the lead group after a puncture.

There were plenty of punctures, broken wheels and crashes on the heavy cobbles that make up the surface of the 57km course, which is divided into 29 sections. Everyone knows that anything can happen at Paris-Roubaix. It's hard to come out of it without regrets.

The peloton of 175 riders headed north from the start in Compiegne, 80 kilometres outside Paris, despite a recent spate of serious accidents. The recent spate of cycling accidents had prompted the organisers to introduce a last-minute safety measure after Jonas Vingegaard, Wout van Aert and Jay Vine were seriously injured in recent crashes.

As the race approached the Arenberg coal mine, the cycling world held its breath as the peloton approached the controversial safety chicane designed to slow the peloton down. It was undoubtedly put in with good intentions, but it lost the essence of the area and its tradition.

It wasn't popular with the riders, but it worked without any crashes and there was nothing to regret. In the Arenberg forest, cyclists reach very high speeds. With the safety measure in place, they slowly entered an irregular cobbled area.

The ultra-long 'Queen of the Classics' is usually characterised by miles of mud and millions of cobbles. On Sunday, however, the race was run in bright sunshine through the lush green fields on the Belgian border. A week earlier, it was rain and mud in Flanders.

In Compiegne, 106 bikes were checked before the race as part of the fight against electronic cheating. Eight bikes were X-rayed. Van der Poel was clean. He is on his way to becoming one of the greatest cyclists in history. His two victories in the Tour of Flanders, two more in Paris - Roubaix and one in the 'Clasicaissima', the Milan - San Remo, place him in the ranks of the greats.

He's capable of winning one-day races, stages of the grand tours and world championships. Now he's thinking about the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, where he could compete in road racing and in mountain biking. He knows no limits.