It is not an injury, not an illness nor a dip in form that may keep Lars van der Haar sidelined at the Cyclo-Cross World Championships in Hulst. The only reason that the 34-year-old Dutchman could miss his fourteenth and probably last World Cup cross is the birth of his second child.
Van der Haar and his wife Lucy are expecting a son, and the due date falls exactly on the day of the World Cup. As a result, the participation of the experienced rider depends on one factor that no training schedule can compete with: the moment of delivery.
“The baby will come when it comes,” says Van der Haar on AD.nl. “If that’s eight o’clock in the morning, then I still want to drive. It doesn’t matter if I haven’t slept all night. But around noon it gets difficult. Then I just can’t make it anymore.”
The men’s professional competition starts on Sunday at 3:10 PM. That time theoretically leaves room for a start, but only if everything goes well. “If Lucy says at half past three in the afternoon that everything is still going well, then I will start. And even if it were in the evening, I would probably drive.”
Lucy Garner, a professional road racer under that name for many years, knows the life of a top athlete like no other. She even encourages her husband to start. Yet Van der Haar is resolute about this. “Lucy says, ‘Go ahead and drive,’ but I’m absolutely not going to let that happen. I’m not going to let her give birth alone.”
The dilemma is great: from a sporting point of view, Van der Haar would like nothing more than to be at the start of a World Cup in his own country one more time. At the same time, the choice is clear when it comes down to it. “In principle, Lucy and I both want me to drive, but I’m not going to miss the birth.”
Whether Van der Haar will be at the start in Hulst on Sunday remains uncertain until the last minute. One thing is certain: this is a race he will never forget, whether he drives or not.
