Van der Poel produces the longest winning solo of the century in Luxembourg

Van der Poel went clear after just three kilometres of the final stage of the Tour de Luxembourg, with 174 kilometres still to race, and stayed away all the way to the finish. The effort was almost three times longer than the biggest solo victory of his career until that point.

More significantly, it also surpassed anything documented in elite men’s road racing this century.

Before Van der Poel’s ride, David McKenzie held the longest valid winning solo since 2000 after riding 164 kilometres alone to win stage seven of the 2000 Giro d’Italia.

David Zabriskie went 162 kilometres alone to win stage 11 of the 2004 Vuelta a España, but that result was later annulled following his doping sanction and is therefore excluded from the ranking.

The next valid effort belonged to Simone Bertoletti, who rode 160 kilometres solo to win stage one of the 2003 Tour de Romandie. Christophe Agnolutto followed with 125 kilometres alone in stage seven of the 2000 Tour de France, while Pedro Díaz Lobato won at the Vuelta a Andalucía after a 122.5 kilometre solo.

Van der Poel’s 174 kilometre ride therefore moved the benchmark another 10 kilometres beyond McKenzie’s mark.

The 174 kilometres in Luxembourg now stand far above anything Van der Poel had previously done on the road.

Before Sunday, his longest solo victory came at Paris-Roubaix in 2024. Wearing the rainbow jersey, he attacked with 59.6 kilometres remaining and rode alone to the velodrome, taking his second consecutive victory in the race.

His next longest came at Tirreno Adriatico in 2021. On a cold and difficult stage to Castelfidardo, Van der Poel went clear with 51.9 kilometres to go. Tadej Pogačar came close to bringing him back on the steep final climbs, but Van der Poel held on despite being visibly exhausted at the finish.

The 2020 BinckBank Tour produced another long range attack, this time with the general classification also at stake. Van der Poel attacked with 50 kilometres remaining around Geraardsbergen and stayed clear long enough to win the stage and secure the overall victory by just eight seconds.

Fifth on the list is the 2024 Tour of Flanders. Van der Poel made the decisive move on the wet Koppenberg with 44.8 kilometres remaining. While several riders behind were forced off their bikes on the slippery cobbles, he rode clear and continued alone to a third victory in the race.

Those victories had already made long range attacks a recurring feature of Van der Poel’s biggest wins. But in Luxembourg, he went far beyond even his own most ambitious previous efforts, producing a move that surpassed anything any other rider had achieved this century.