David van der Poel on his retirement: "I enjoyed the last race, even though I didn't win"

In the Sluitingsprijs Putte-Kapellen, Coen Vermeltfoort took the victory as David van der Poel finished second. For the latter, the race in his home region served as a farewell race, as Mathieu van der Poel's older brother has decided to hang up his racing bike which came as a surprise to many.

"I enjoyed the last race, even though I didn't win," he told Het Nieuwsblad afterwards. But how come the Alpecin-Deceuninck man decided to call it quits? "I was at the end of my contract. I met with the team a while ago and we decided that it was better to put an end to it. When was that? A month or two ago now," he gives the story more context.

Van der Poel says he has tried in recent months not to think too much about his upcoming retirement. "I just wanted to enjoy my last races as much as possible. And honestly: I was able to ride a number of nice races at the end," he then refers to the Tour of Turkey, the Baltic Tour and the Tour of Alsace. "And ending my career in Putte-Kapellen is also very nice."

Just like brother Mathieu, of whom he is anything but jealous, David had to deal with back problems on several occasions, which often caused problems during the winter periods. "It especially bothered me in the field, although I had it more under control last winter. This allowed me to enjoy it a little more. An hour of suffering in a cross was more than enough for me. I have made peace with the fact that I am quitting professional cycling. The realization will come when we have been a few days or weeks further," he concludes.