Van der Poel wins Paris-Roubaix again with Pogačar in second place after late crash

ROUBAIX, France (AP) — Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel benefited from Tadej Pogačar's late crash on Sunday to win the Paris-Roubaix race for the third straight year.

Pogačar's debut appearance at the one-day classic saw him seeking to become the first Tour de France champion to win it since Bernard Hinault in 1981.

The 259.2-kilometer (161-mile) race is called “The Hell of the North” because of its numerous cobblestone sections and reputation for crashes.

Pogačar found that out with 38 kilometers to go.

The 26-year-old Slovenian was neck-and-neck with Van der Poel when he misjudged a turn on a cobblestone section and went into the crash barriers.

Although he was unhurt, his chain came off and he had to change bikes, losing crucial time. Then, when he picked up a puncture with 20 kilometers to go, his victory chances were gone.

The grueling race is one of the five “monuments” in one-day cycling along with Liège–Bastogne–Liège, the Tour of Lombardy, Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Flanders.

Van der Poel, who raised his bike in the air in celebration, and Pogačar have won eight monuments each.

“It means a lot. It’s such a hard race, I was suffering. I just had to go for it,” Van der Poel said. “I’m just happy I found my good legs again. We know what an incredible champion Tadej is.”

Although Van der Poel had a puncture with 16 kilometers left, he changed bikes without losing much time and entered the Roubaix velodrome all alone.

He bowed his head and then raised three fingers when he crossed the finish line in 5 hours, 31 minutes, 27 seconds.

Pogačar got a loud ovation and waved to the crowd when he finished second, 1 minute, 18 seconds behind. Danish rider Mads Pedersen took third place after a three-way sprint to the line, finishing 2:11 behind Van der Poel.

The 30-year-old Van der Poel added another prestigious win to his glittering career and got the better of Pogačar again after beating him last month at the prestigious Milan-San Remo, which Pogačar has never won.

On Saturday, Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt overcame sickness and a crash to win the Paris-Roubaix women’s race for the first time after a well-timed solo breakaway. The 148.5-kilometer women’s race featured 29.2 km of cobbles.

Sunday's race had been billed as a showdown between two of the greatest cyclists of the modern era: the versatile and tactically shrewd Pogačar versus the super-fast and powerful Van der Poel.

Van der Poel outsmarted him at San-Remo, but Pogačar bounced back with a victory last Sunday with a trademark solo attack at Flanders.

When Pogačar launched an attack with 71 kilometers left, Van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen were soon on his wheel.

Philipsen was then dropped as the pace increased, but Pogačar’s inexperience on the cobbles showed when he entered a turn too fast and ultimately lost the race.

“The speed was super-high and he missed the turn a bit,” Van der Poel said. “It was the two of us going into the Velodrome if he didn’t make the mistake. I think it would have been very difficult to drop him.”

Pogačar has won three Tour de France titles and one Giro d’Italia and is notoriously hard to beat.

Last month, he won the Strade Bianche race in Italy for the third time despite falling.

But this time he could not overcome his setback.

AP cycling: https://apnews.com/hub/cycling

Second placed, Tadej Pogacar, of Slovenia, winner Mathieu van der Poel, of the Netherlands, and third placed Mads Pedersen, of Denmark, pose on the podium of the Paris-Roubaix cycling race in Roubaix, France, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Second placed, Tadej Pogacar, of Slovenia, winner Mathieu van der Poel, of the Netherlands, and third placed Mads Pedersen, of Denmark, pose on the podium of the Paris-Roubaix cycling race in Roubaix, France, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Mathieu van der Poel, of the Netherlands, poses on the podium as Tadej Pogacar, of Slovenia, pass behind after he winning the Paris-Roubaix cycling race in Roubaix, France, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Mathieu van der Poel, of the Netherlands, poses on the podium as Tadej Pogacar, of Slovenia, pass behind after he winning the Paris-Roubaix cycling race in Roubaix, France, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Mathieu van der Poel, of the Netherlands, celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the Paris-Roubaix cycling race in Roubaix, France, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Mathieu van der Poel, of the Netherlands, lifts the cobblestone trophy while second placed Tadej Pogacar, of Slovenia, and third placed Mads Pedersen, of Denmark, look on, on the podium of the Paris-Roubaix cycling race in Roubaix, France, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Mathieu van der Poel, of the Netherlands, approaches the finish line on her own to win the Paris-Roubaix cycling race in Roubaix, France, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Mathieu van der Poel, of the Netherlands, approaches the finish line on her own to win the Paris-Roubaix cycling race in Roubaix, France, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Mathieu van der Poel, of the Netherlands, celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the Paris-Roubaix cycling race in Roubaix, France, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s governor on Monday urged people to moderate their energy consumption as she warned that the island has no additional power generation capability to fall back on days after a massive blackout hit the U.S. territory.

Gov. Jenniffer González said officials are waiting for an explanation from Luma Energy, a private company that oversees transmission and distribution of power in Puerto Rico, about what caused the island-wide outage on April 16. It affected 1.4 million customers and left more than 400,000 others without water.

The governor announced that two subcommittees have been created: one to help the island’s so-called energy czar to audit Luma’s contract and another to identify potential companies to replace Luma if its contract is terminated.

“There have been multiple incidents,” she said when asked whether the blackout was reason enough to cancel Luma’s contract, something she pledged to do while campaigning for governor. “The operator sold itself as an expert ... That perception of expertise has proven to be false.”

Luma said in a statement sent late Monday to The Associated Press that it was focused on the grid's reconstruction, “fulfilling the responsibilities established in our contract.”

The company said it “has extensive technical and operational experience, including personnel with experience in the aviation industry, as well as employees from the former operator,” referring to Puerto Rico's Electric Power Authority.

Luma has five days to explain why a transmission line failed and to provide details about whether it complied with required flyovers of transmission lines to ensure they remain free of tree branches and other obstructions.

A preliminary report from Luma released late Friday found that a transmission line apparently failed because of overgrown vegetation.

“The fact that this happened indicates either that the patrol didn’t take place or that the line inspector didn’t detect it. That tree didn’t grow there overnight,” said Josué Colón, Puerto Rico’s so-called energy czar and former executive director of the island’s Electric Power Authority.

He said protective equipment that was supposed to detect and isolate the failure also failed, which caused the transmission system to collapse in “a cascade event that is irreversible.”

“The important thing now is that this doesn’t happen again,” he said.

González said Puerto Rico’s government has launched its own investigation into the blackout to compare it to Luma’s report and determine any discrepancies.

Luma said it was “continuing a thorough investigation" into the blackout and monitors transmission and distribution lines “in accordance with the highest industry standards.”

“We remain committed to transparency and will continue to inform our customers and the public as soon as we have confirmed information,” it said.

Meanwhile, González stressed that the Trump administration has been in communication with her since the outage occurred, adding that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency authorized the extended use of industrial generators.

On Monday, some 20,000 customers remained without power, although officials said other issues were to blame.

“Our system is fragile,” González said.

Earlier on Monday, she, Colón and other officials met behind closed doors to review Luma's preliminary findings, recommend next steps and talk about an ongoing search for a company that can provide 800 megawatts of additional power generation in the upcoming months.

After a blackout on New Year’s Eve, the one on April 16 was the second such massive outage to hit Puerto Rico in less than four months.

Puerto Rico has struggled with chronic outages since September 2017, when Hurricane Maria hit the island as a powerful Category 4 storm, razing a power grid that crews are still struggling to rebuild.

The grid already had been deteriorating following decades of a lack of maintenance and investment under the state’s Electric Power Authority, which is struggling to restructure more than $9 billion in debt.

Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america

Headlights illuminate cobblestone streets in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, during an island-wide blackout, Wednesday, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Alejandro Granadillo)