2023-08-06 18:39:26
Mathieu van der Poel is finally world champion. The Dutchman is a cyclist born to wear the rainbow, but it has resisted him until he reached Glasgow, a different World Cup, on strange dates and with a very tough track and conditions. Van der Poel raised his hands to his head as he entered the finish line. Like his if he didn’t just believe it. It was beyond belief after all he had to go through.
The circuit was a constant up and down, a slide watered by rain throughout the day that many wanted to take advantage of to launch their attacks without waiting for the last kilometers to arrive. When there were 90 kilometers to go, important cyclists from the race showed up. Evenepoel, Pogacar, Van Aert, Van der Poel, they all had their moment to launch an attack that was punishing the forces of the runners at every step on Montrose Street, the steepest part of the circuit.
Evenepoel soon lost contact with the favourites. The Belgian’s strength failed to defend the rainbow jersey achieved last year. Others, like Trentin, had to say goodbye due to a fall. Just like Ion Izagirre when he was being the best Spaniard in the race.
Van der Poel had already tried with 74 kilometers to go. An attack that was already making a selection. But he launched the final one when there were 23 kilometers to go.
There were only the chosen ones left. Except for Evenepoel, the only one of the true favorites who did not measure up. With Van der Poel were Van Aert, Pogacar, Pedersen and a guest, Bettiol, who was the first to escape. The Italian took advantage of a provisioning to leave, but when the other four gobbled him up, Van der Poel launched a powerful attack that no one could follow. So strong was his start that Bettiol couldn’t even hook onto the wheel of the other four to regain strength waiting for an opportunity in the final kilometers. He lost sight of them immediately and let himself go until he finished tenth, surpassed by the small group that came from behind.
Van der Poel left alone and not even a fall could stop him. He lost his front wheel going around the corner, but had time to disengage his right foot from the pedal to cushion the blow. And even though the bike ended up under a fence, the distance from him increased rather than decreased. Even with a piece of shoe hanging from the heel after rubbing against the asphalt.
From behind they did not understand each other to try to catch up and Van der Poel continued at his pace on his way to victory. He has learned Dutch from past experiences, such as the Yorkshire World Cup in 2019, the one in which Alejandro Valverde had to retire, defeated by cold and rain, unable to defend the gold he achieved in 2018. Van der Poel did not reach retire, wanted to finish the race. But he arrived empty after a spectacular bird. He set the pace on the toughest climb of the course and suddenly found himself limp. “Inexplicable,” he would say then.
But it hurt more not to have been able to compete last year in Australia after an incident at the hotel. He was arrested for assaulting two girls who knocked on the door of his room and, although he was released before the race, he was not in a position to dispute the victory and ended up retiring.
“It’s revenge,” says the Dutchman, who considers this to be the biggest victory of his career. A victory that neither his father, Adrie van der Poel, nor his grandfather, Raymond Poulidor, and the one he accompanies from the cyclocross world championship achieved in winter, could achieve. Actually it is his sixth world championship because in the grass and mud of cyclocross there are five that he has achieved.
The fight for the other two medals was no less spectacular. Van Aert, once again, had to settle for silver behind his great rival. Pedersen and Pogacar sprinted for the bronze in what seemed like an unequal fight in favor of the Dane. But you should never underestimate the Croatian, who ended up completing a luxury podium.
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