Opinion: Mathieu van der Poel firmly grasps legend status with second Paris-Roubaix victory

Reigning world champion deserves his place alongside Roger de Vlaeminck and Eddy Merckx as one of cycling’s greatest-ever one-day racers

Mathieu van der Poel
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Tom Thewlis

Tom is one of Cycling Weekly's team of news and features writers, and was there at Paris-Roubaix to witness the Mathieu van der Poel show. 

What is sporting greatness? To some, it may be watching Lionel Messi gliding across a football pitch before scoring for Argentina, or maybe a bowler tearing through a team to win a Test match. Or perhaps it's the sight of one man - resplendent in the world champion’s rainbow jersey - entering into the Vélodrome André-Pétrieux to a wall of noise, after conquering cycling’s toughest one day race once more

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