Mathieu van der Poel is one of the biggest names in the modern peloton and the Alpecin-Deceuninck superstar has been using that profile for good, raising a significant sum of money for 'Stand Up To Cancer' through the auctioning off of one of his bikes.
"Today, on ‘Stand Up to Cancer Day’, we want to share that €149.000 was raised for Stand Up to Cancer through the auction of Mathieu Van Der Poel’s bike, in collaboration with Vivelevelo_be during the Tour de France," announced the official social media pages of the Alpecin-Deceuninck team on Thursday morning. "And there’s more to come! Soon, the next phase of our Merci Poupou campaign will begin, with 10 charities/organizations receiving a limited-edition Merci Poupou shirt to support their own fundraising efforts. Stay tuned for more details on how to sign-up!"
The Merci Poupou campaign is a great initiative from Alpecin-Deceuninck, paying tribute to Van der Poel's late grandfather, the legendary Raymond Poulidor. "Founded in 2021 and already raised over €300,000, we are here again with a range of new actions as fundraisers for various organisations providing opportunities for children and young adults to engage in sports, recover from injuries and accidents, and to support good causes," the team explained back in the Tour de France when first announcing the aforementioned campaign.