Mathieu van der Poel underlined his status as one of the greatest classics riders of all time by winning the iconic Paris-Roubaix race for the third-straight year.
However, he was left furious after being hit by a water bottle that appeared to be deliberately thrown from the crowd with 32 kilometres to go.
The Dutchman van der Poel became just the third man to win the Hell of the North three times in a row after Frenchman Octave Lapize (1909-1911) and Italian Francesco Moser (1978-1980).
The former world champion soloed to victory 38km from home after his great rival Tadej Pogacar slipped off the road on a cobbled sector.
The pair had broken away from the rest of the field after repeated accelerations from both men tore the main group of favourites to smithereens, with teammates van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen the only riders to keep Pogacar's wheel with about 71km to go.
Philipsen was then dropped as the pace increased, but Pogacar's inexperience on the cobbles showed when he entered a turn too fast and ultimately lost the race.
In another classic battle between two of the greatest cyclists of this or any other generation, that mistake proved the difference, although van der Poel's astonishing power and prowess over the cobbles may have told in the end.
Pogacar, winner of last week's Tour of Flanders, was riding Paris-Roubaix for the first time after teasing fans for months over his participation.
He ended it bleeding from his wrist, perhaps as a result of his watch rubbing, and smiling in a grimace as he acknowledged how hard this race is.
The Slovenian is regarded as one of the greatest cyclists of all time, the reigning world champion as well as the last winner of the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia.
Pogacar was aiming to become the first Tour de France champion to win Paris-Roubaix since Bernard Hinault in 1981.
However, he was unable to match van der Poel, a man who has made this infernal race over the brutal cobbles of northern France his own.
The Dutchman is a seven-time world champion in cyclo-cross and the 2024 gravel world champion to boot, and used all those bike-handling skills to stay upright.
Van der Poel's victory was not without issue though, as he survived having a water bottle thrown into his face while leading, soon after Pogacar's crash.
"I hope they identify the person and press charges," van der Poel told Dutch news agency NOS, while his team railed against fans, posting on social media: "throwing objects at riders who are giving their all — this has to stop immediately! Just enjoy the race!"
"I got hit in the face with a bottle at 50 kilometres per hour. That's enough to break a jaw," van der Poel continued.
"We can't just let that slide."
He added in a further interview with Sporza that the incident was akin to "attempted manslaughter".
In the post-race press conference he described the incident as like having a stone hit his face.
"It doesn't destroy the fun I had, but it's not normal," he said.
"It was a full bottle, maybe half a kilogram, and I'm riding at 50kph. It was really like a stone hitting my face.
"It's not acceptable.
"When they throw beer, it's also not acceptable, but that's a different story. This is really something we have to take legal action against."
With his lead sitting at over a minute, van der Poel suffered a puncture on the Carrefour de l'Arbre sector, where photographers also captured one fan throwing liquid in van der Poel's direction.
Neither that, nor the bike change, caused a murmur though, as van der Poel quickly remounted a new bike provided by his team.
The victory was his eighth in a monument classic, the same number as Pogacar.
Paris-Roubaix is one of five such monuments, including Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Tour of Lombardy, Milan-San Remo and the Tour of Flanders.
The pair have become the dominant riders in these races, despite their very different physiques and styles of riding.
Van der Poel outsmarted him at San-Remo, but Pogacar bounced back with a victory last Sunday with a trademark solo attack at Flanders.
Danish rider Mads Pedersen, who punctured at an inopportune time before a cobbled section, took third place after a three-way sprint to the line, finishing 2:11 behind Van der Poel.
That ensured the podium at the two great cobbled classics consisted of the same three former or reigning world champions.
"The speed was super-high," 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."
