AFPMathieu van der Poel
NOS Wielrennen•vandaag, 08:16
While he quietly prepares for a possible – no, probable – sixth world title, the outside world muses about what it once was like, in 2015. How Mathieu van der Poel made his professional debut nine years ago, also in Tabor, Czech Republic. And how he immediately turned it into his playground.
The parallel with Wout van Aert was already there then. The Belgian, who, like Van der Poel, had just turned 20, also made his debut at a professional World Cup that year. And he was also immediately one of the favorites for gold.
But after an hour through the Czech field, it was Van der Poel who won and Van Aert who broke his handlebars out of frustration. A harbinger of what was to come.
Back to Tábor (2015): the day Adrie became ‘Mathieu’s father’
How Van der Poel won? He pulled away from everyone in the first lap. As simple as that sentence sounds, it was as simple as that. Van der Poel saw the first beams on the course and thought: ‘nice, I’ll jump over them’. The competition saw two obstacles, braked briefly or stepped off.
As father Adrie van der Poel put it afterwards: “It’s like he’s riding around in a playground. It’s been that way from an early age, since he was three or four years old. He’s relaxed when he’s on the bike, he is just himself. And I of course hope that he remains that way in the coming years.”
Van Aert, who even then had several places of honor to his name, thought afterwards that he really could have won if he had not had bad luck. “With these legs I should have just won. I have won a silver and bronze medal often enough.”
The Men’s Professional World Cup can be followed live on Sunday from 7 p.m. on NOS on NPO1, NOS.nl and in the NOS app. The commentary is by Jeroen Koster and Thijs Al.
Lars van der Haar, who at 23 years old already had slightly more experience, had to recognize his superiority in the two youngsters and rode to bronze. “This is very frustrating, but also very clever of Mathieu. I think he is mentally unbreakable.”
Stybar passes the baton
Zdenek Stybar agrees with this. The Czech, who will retire as a professional this weekend in Tábor, has been a training partner of Van der Poel in recent years when the two are in Belgium, where they both live.
“We regularly train together. There are no twenty people with whom I can train so hard and for so long, so that is good for me and also good for him. We also laughed a lot. During the corona period we drove each other to pieces. We have good memories of that, it was fun.”
Stybar awards training buddy Mathieu title in Tábor: ‘It will be a very nice farewell’
Stybar was once the Van der Poel of his time. In 2011, Stybar won his first world title in the field in a snowy Tábor. He repeated that trick a year later, but in the meantime he also focused more and more on his career away from home.
Returned again in 2014. With only a handful of cyclo-cross races in his legs, he won his third world title among the pros in Hoogerheide.
The young Van der Poel rode with the promises that year and did not get further than bronze in front of his own audience. There was no change of guard, as Stybar skipped the World Cup in his own country due to shoulder problems.
Van der Poel’s dominance was inevitable, Stybar knows. “He comes from a special family. It is in his DNA. And he is mentally very strong. He is technically so good and he is explosive. He can simply do everything.”
You will never get tired of Van der Poel: ‘We will still be talking about this in fifty years’
Sven Nys (world champion in 2005 and 2013) and Paul Herygers (world champion in 1994) are also short of superlatives, even though they have already seen hundreds of races with Van der Poel.
“He transcends our discipline,” says Nys, currently team boss of Baloise-Trek Lions, perhaps the best team in the cyclo-cross circuit. “He is someone that everyone is still watching with their mouths open. If you don’t do that, then you have no love for this sport. We will still be talking about this in fifty years.”
Full house
Back to 2015. Did Van der Poel realize what he had done? “No, not quite yet. I think it will take a while.” Obediently adorned with a KNWU cap, he spoke to NOS reporter Jeroen Koster.
The fact that it had taken his father fifteen years was discussed. “And I succeeded the first time. It’s incredible, I can’t describe it.”
Multiple cyclo-cross world champions
7 Erik De Vlaeminck (Bel) 5 Mathieu van der Poel (Ned), Renato Longo (Ita), André Dufraisse (Wra), Albert Zweifel (Zwi) 4 Roland Liboton (Bel) 3 Wout van Aert (Bel), Zdenek Stybar (Tsj), Erwin Vervecken (Bel), Mario De Clercq (Bel), Rolf Wolfshohl (W-Ger), Roger Rondeaux (Fra) 2 Sven Nys (Bel), Niels Albert (Bel), Bart Wellens (Bel), Klaus-Peter Thaler (W-Ger)
Van Aert will not be present on Sunday, he will focus his winter on optimal preparation for his road program. Van der Poel apparently gets a safe conduct towards his sixth world title. Then he is only one rainbow jersey away from the record of another illustrious Belgian: Roger De Vlaeminck.
And although Van der Poel himself has recently hinted at a winter without cross, Nys has no doubts. “I think he will continue to race until he has eight world titles. That’s how I would do it.”
2024-02-04 07:16:22
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