Sean Kelly spots strange Alpecin move in Paris-Roubaix: "Maybe van der Poel thought he needed to get rid of Philipsen"

"Of course, it was always going to be hard for Pogačar to beat Van der Poel in that one-on-one situation because he would have had to have shaken him off before the sprint in the velodrome," the nine-time (!) Monument winner begins his analysis in Cyclingnews. Yet, according to Kelly, Pogacar would have won the race if the Slovenian had been with Van der Poel when he had his flat tire just before the end. "The world champion would have dug deep and got into time trial mode, and when you're out front in Roubaix, even if you're dying, you can still pull something out."

"Unfortunately, though, Pogačar made that big mistake that cost him the race," Kelly also saw the Slovenian make an error in judgment. "It was a big, big error, especially against a guy like Van der Poel who's so good at bike handling that he could probably ride around a corner like that on ice. It's just the type of racer that Pogačar is, though – he's not afraid to try things, whether that's attacking 70km out or taking a risk on a corner. But this time, he got caught out, and maybe if he'd just followed Van der Poel or been more cautious on the cobbles, it would have been different."

In general, Kelly thought the world champion did very well in his Roubaix debut. "I was very impressed by his performance, and the way the race played out suited him because it was so hard and full-on from so far out. He was also getting around the cobbles really well, which was very impressive for his first Roubaix – I didn't think he'd be that good, and the way things were strung out early definitely helped him, but he rode really well," said the Irishman.

The big question after Sunday is, of course, whether Pogacar will return to Roubaix. Kelly thinks the Slovenian can 'definitely win' the Hell of the North in the future, but: "The conditions will be important – Sunday wasn't a bad Roubaix, there was some mud but it was quite dry in the end – so if we get dry conditions again, Pogačar is going to win Roubaix in the next couple of years, and I'll be very surprised if he's not back next year."

One person who will almost certainly be at the start in Compiègne next year is Van der Poel. Last Sunday, the Dutchman scored a third victory in the Hell of the North, which, according to Kelly Again, proves he is a master in so many different ways. "Bike handling, cornering, giving himself space – all these little things conserve a little bit of energy which you then save for later in the day, and we saw how he was able to dig in and take advantage after Pogačar's crash, which is what he needed to do to win."

Despite the victory, Kelly was at one point during the race a little surprised by the tactics of Alpecin-Deceuninck. "When he and Jasper Philipsen were riding at the front against Pogacar," the Irishman recalls. "With 50 kilometres to go, we saw Van der Poel attacking when Philipsen was with him. It was two vs one against Pogačar, with a gap that was sufficient to the group behind, so I had to ask myself 'Why did Van der Poel attack?' I found it very strange. It would be better to keep on riding with two men from the same team up front, because then if one of you does have a mechanical issue, the other can sit on towards the finish."

"So I think Van der Poel actually was trying to use that as an opportunity to get rid of Philipsen because he saw him as potentially a threat. If Philipsen had got rid of that little bit of uphill, and the Carrefour de l'Arbre – which he's ridden well before – he might have been able to go a long way to the finish, so maybe Van der Poel was thinking he had to get rid of him. Yes, they're teammates, but it wouldn't be the first time we've seen that happen within a team."

In the end, Van der Poel won solo, making the Dutch rider the best classic cyclist of the season so far, ahead of Kelly. "Even with Pogačar's Flanders win and his strong ride in Roubaix, I still think Van der Poel is the best rider in these early season Classics. Pogačar's ability to combine the Classics with the Tour is impressive in its own way, but Van der Poel is the man of the spring this year. He's the real specialist in these races, and he comes back year on year and keeps winning, and it's not surprising," the Irishman concludes his analysis.