There are cyclists marking heyday. Some do this by winning consecutive Tours, others by being a true human ‘beast’ who can excel in all regions, cyclocross, mountain, road and even gravel racing. The name of Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel, who has French blood in his veins and became the cyclocross world champion this Sunday at the age of 29, also appears here.
In fact, the victory was far from a surprise; On the contrary, a defeat for the Dutch star could break the bank as he is one of the greatest sixes in current cycling alongside Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar, Primoz Roglic, Remco Evenepoel and. Wout van Aert. Moreover, since he was the only driver who could deprive him of victory, his arch-rival Van Aert could not participate in the race after spending the whole week with road season preparations in Mallorca.
So, since the decision to leave was made, Van der Poel He finished first at the Tabor circuit in the Czech Republic, where he won the first of the rainbow jumpers that rewarded the world champion in 2015, which he also wore as the winner of the road race; It is always a phenomenon, a beast and an animal in the true sense of the names of the bike.
Sixth world championship
No one coughed on him, the gold medal was never at risk, not even an incident or a slump like the one he suffered in cyclocross (14 races and 13 wins), his only defeat in Benidorm in January. victory of course VanAert.
In doing so, he added an impressive record sixth world title (three VanAert), yet one of these Eric van VlaeminckCyclocross star of the 60s and 70s, brother of one of Belgian cycling’s greatest legends, who died in 2015 Roger van Vlaeminckalso cyclocross world champion in 1975 and winner of five monuments: Milan-San Remo, Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and Lombardy.
It can be said that Van der Poel is also involved in gaining ‘monuments’. He has already achieved victory in San Remo, Flanders and Roubaix. He misses the victories in Liege, which left him too tired after the successes on the cobblestones, and in Lombardy, which was already exhausted at the end of the season. It looks like these victories will have to wait a little longer, at least this year Van der Poel He focused on the stones of Northern Europe, the Olympic Games (where he wanted to become mountain bike champion), the Vuelta and the World Cup.
He won a cyclocross that didn’t excite his famous grandfather, Raymond Poulidor (who died in 2019), but his father did. Adrie van der PoelIt was also a great World Cup for the Netherlands, which became world champions in 1996. The Netherlands won the silver medal thanks to this cup. Joris Nieuwenhuis ahead of the Belgian Michael Vanthourenhout It is a cycling specialty generally dominated by Dutch and Belgian cyclists. Alicante’s Felipe Orts achieved his goal of finishing in the top 10 by placing tenth. The Dutch anthem was also played in the women’s category. Fem van Empel.