Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) took his second monument victory of the season at Paris-Roubaix, though a late puncture for Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma) robbed the race of the man-on-man battle everyone had been waiting for.
The prize money on offer on the day was a modest €91,000, with the breakdown of who won what set out below. The prizes ranged from €30,000 for the winner to just €500 for the riders who filled places 16th to 20th. They are paltry sums - that have not increased for years - for 256.6km of hard racing over the pavé.
Ireland's Ryan Mullen (Bora-hansgrohe) was our only representative in the race and he made some great efforts to try and get clear in an early breakaway. At one point he was clear with Silvan Dillier (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who was 2nd five years ago. However, the Swiss rider could not match the Irishman's turns and the duo were caught after what looked like a promising move.
Advertisement
Related News
Mullen eventual finished the race in 116th, some 20:28 down on winner Van der Poel. His result followed Mia Griffin's historic finish in the women's race 24 hours earlier. The Israel Premier Tech Roland rider became the first Irish woman to ride 'Hell of the North'.
In the men's race yesterday, the big two - Van der Poel and Van Aert - pulled clear of a very select front group on the final five-star sector of cobbles, Carrefour de l'Arbre. However, they were only away - and the scene set for a great two-man fight on the run in - when Van Aert suffered a rear wheel puncture.
While he quickly got a new wheel just after coming out of the pavé sector, and attempted to give chase, he had lost almost 30 seconds to lone leader Van der Poel. The chasing group then caught Van Aert and every attack he attempted was marked closely by Van der Poel's team mate, Jasper Philipsen.
Van de Poel powered to victory on Vélodrome André-Pétrieux and some 46 seconds after he crossed the line his young team mate, Philipsen, beat Van Aert in the two-up sprint for 2nd and 3rd.
Paris-Roubaix 2023 Prize Money
1st €30,000 Mathieu van der Poel Alpecin-Deceuninck
2nd €22,000 Jasper Philipsen Alpecin-Deceuninck
3rd €15,000 Wout van Aert Jumbo-Visma
4th €7,500 Mads Pedersen Trek-Segafredo
5th €3,200 Stefan Küng Groupama - FDJ
6th €1,700 Filippo Ganna INEOS Grenadiers
7th €1,500 John Degenkolb Team DSM
8th €1,300 Max Walscheid»Cofidis
9th €1,200 Laurenz Rex»Intermarché-Circus-Wanty
10th €1,100 Christophe Laporte Jumbo-Visma
11th €1,000 Gianni Vermeersch Alpecin-Deceuninck
12th €900 Florian Vermeersch Lotto Dstny
13th €800 Sjoerd Bax UAE Team Emirates
14th €700 Nathan Van Hooydonck Jumbo-Visma
15th €600 Alexander Kristoff Uno-X Pro Cycling Team
16th €500 Sep Vanmarcke Israel-Premier Tech
17th €500 Mike Teunissen Intermarché-Circus-Wanty
18th €500 Dries Van Gestel TotalEnergies
19th €500 Matteo Trentin UAE Team Emirates
20th €500 Jasper Stuyven Trek-Segafredo
