08/08/2023

Adrie van der Poel has nothing but compliments after World Championships road race: "They make cycling really attractive"

Adrie van der Poel was vocal on how he believes that current cycling is harder than what was the case a few decades ago, and he also vastly complements the headliners of the recent World Championships road race after a spectacular race that ended with Mathieu's win.

“We will see that in the coming months, or maybe even next year. The fact that it has unleashed something in a lot of people, that is now slowly seeping through," Adrie told Wielerflits regarding the current state of Dutch cycling. “You can almost compare it to the Tour victories. We had a period between 1974 and 1979 when a number of Dutch world champions came one after the other."

"A World Championship that will reverberate for a long time" - Jose de Cauwer lauds incredible men's road race

He commented on Mathieu's run-up to the Worlds, which proved perfect, as was the case with Milano-Sanremo - both races where the endurance factor benefited him: “Super proud, of course! Mathieu rode a very strong spring. In the Tour he was actually only able to do half of his thing, also due to circumstances. He continued to fight in that Tour, to get rid of that cold."

"I saw that he was a lot better in the third Tour week, also uphill. Once out of the Tour, he made the decision very quickly to go to Spain, because the weather here was too bad to train in. He did his thing there. Then you come back, fingers crossed and hope all is well. In the end, the whole puzzle falls into place.”

"He was the workhorse in the Tour de France; he had to give everything every day" - Armstrong, Hincapie and Bruyneel blame Jumbo-Visma after Van Aert misses out on World Championship title

The pieces of the puzzle fell in a way not many would've hoped for. It was a dominant win, that he took despite a crash in the final kilometers. Adrie van der Poel believes it was up to the best riders in the world and it is an incredibly prestigious win. “You are there with the three best riders. But I also want to include Mads Pedersen. I think he only got through this year, despite his previous world title."

"He is riding a super strong season. Just like Pogacar and Van Aert, Pedersen is a rider after my own heart. They race. They don't look at an effort more or less. They make cycling really attractive.”