At the foot of the formal podium, Mathieu Van der Poel’s mother, Corine, Raymond Poulidor’s daughter, waited patiently for her son on Sunday. She stayed away from the microphones and cameras during the first post-race interviews, and it was only when he returned to the tent reserved for the top three to change before the ceremony that she crossed. A simple kiss from a mother to her son that meant everything for this extraordinary champion who has never accustomed anyone to great effusions. With a strong character, ambitions assumed at a very young age and career objectives programmed like a metronome, the 29-year-old runner is a character who is both easy to identify sportingly but secretive as soon as he steps outside the scope of his profession.
