Mathieu van der Poel won the Paris-Roubaix cycling classic Sunday, breaking away solo on a dangerous cobbled section for a magnificent solo triumph.

The 28-year-old Dutch rider produced a string of aggressive attacks, before the decisive move on the epic 256.6-kilometer race, which included 54.5 kilometers of rough cobbles.

Jasper Philipsen finished 46 seconds behind to beat fellow Belgian rider Wout van Aert into second place at the Roubaix velodrome finish line.

After an early fall featuring three Ineos riders, an elite clique broke away, until only seven top riders were left, including Filippo Ganna, Mads Pedersen, Stefan Kung and 2015 winner John Degenkolb.

The action then exploded on the Carrefour de L'Arbre five-star cobbled section with 20 kilometers to go, when Degenkolb fell sprawled on the ground, several riders swerving to avoid him in a move that caused Van Aert to puncture.

Van der Poel burst away and never looked back, as he added this race to his recent Milan-SanRemo triumph.

"It's impossible to do better than this," said the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider. "When I passed Van Aert, his face looked low. I didn't know he had a puncture. But that's Roubaix. You need good legs and good luck."

On a sunny Easter Sunday, over 10,000 fans awaited the peloton at the short Trouee d'Arneberg section alone, another five-star cobbled section, where wheels broke, as well as dreams.

Defending champion Dylan van Baarle was one of the many crash victims there, and his teammate Christophe Laporte, took a puncture, leaving team leader Van Aert alone with his rivals, two of whom were on Van der Poel's team.