"He completely destroyed the Belgians" - Dutch pundit considers Van der Poel's breakaway key to rival nation's defeat
CyclingTuesday, 29 September 2026 at 09:00
Mathieu van der Poel's odds at the hard course in Montréal, after he had suffered a crushing defeat at the mountain bike World Championships, were at question. The Dutchman arrived to Montréal right after an outstanding 175-kilometer solo victory in Luxembourg, and immediately become one of the protagonists of the main event.
When the opportunity presented itself, the 31-year-old did not hesitate to jump up the road with seven laps remaining. He was joined by several riders, including cyclocross rival Wout Van Aert. For Belgium, having the Visma rider ahead was a tactical advantage which Van der Poel promptly solved with an acceleration three laps later. This eventually proved key to creating an imbalance in the front group where only Americans were left with more than two (three!) riders.
"He really just set the race on fire. I think he completely destroyed the Belgians," says former rider Michael Boogerd in the NOS Cycling Podcast.
Too offensive strategy?
Ten kilometers from the finish, Van der Poel placed another attack when Brandon McNulty started to slip away once more. This might've been one acceleration too many in the end, but victory was not within the Dutchman's reach at that point anymore, Boogerd estimates. "Perhaps Van der Poel did too much, but I don’t think the outcome would have been different if he hadn’t attacked."
Michael Matthews, Brandon McNulty and Mathieu van der Poel on the podium of the 2026 Montreal World Championships
"I thought for a moment that he had bad legs, because it was extremely early, especially at a World Championship. He wanted to get ahead of the trouble, but he actually causes the trouble himself. He really pushed the other riders to the limit."
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"He has done something again that no one thought possible," Boogerd says, full of praise for his compatriot. "The riders who eventually managed to catch up were already completely wrecked by that point. You can see that reflected in the finale, where everyone finished."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Demi's win in the Women's Race, for all the excitement, finished as per the script. This one was one of the few - Alison Jackson's win at PR also comes to mind - that gives hope to all domestiques and breakaway riders that one day, their turn will come and they will achieve their dream.Cooldude29-09-2026
- I agree with you, we can't compare Pogi and Del Toro. But the fact is Del Toro didn't have a good team and was left by himself. On the other hand, the Belgians had the best team, but Remco and Wout also got nothing. ZERO!!! It was pathetic and sad watching both of them, Wout in front, Remco behind him, both struggling and out of breath. Why, I don't know, there is absolutely no excuse. The Belgians were the biggest losers in Montreal.PogiSloFans29-09-2026
- The Americans had the numbers and no designated leader so if it hjad not been McNulty it would have been Jorgensen attacking so the finale played out according to the numbers.CCooke29-09-2026
- Yes he and Pidcock needed to bury themselves AFTER the climb but neither was prepared to commit. They were fine on the climb since they were the strongest climbers but doing on the flat when it matterred they didn't do.CCooke29-09-2026
- The youngest stars were thinking not so much about themselves as the weight of responsibility of winning for their country. It's clear from their reactions afterwards that letting their country down was sitting heavily on Seixas and Del Toro. It leaves a bad taste that much older, experienced riders with a secure track record are blaming young, inexperienced talents for their failure to win.Hills3329-09-2026
- I like that UAE's website has already updated their photos to show Pog in his post-WC kit. Before they even get one of McNulty in his. I guess they knew Pog wasn't going to re-up the jersey for a while but still, respecting the jersey - I can get behind that.wrsty29-09-2026
- Blythe doing what Blythe does best, talks utter rubish.
Senna196029-09-2026 - It's missing things a bit to ignore the fact that Jorgensen covered 13 attacks behind McNulty. If he had jumped onto only 12, McNulty would have been caught and dropped. And Jorgensen was selective: he only covered moves that had a guy stronger/faster than McNulty. It was brilliant tactics and extreme self-sacrifice from 3 Americans a half-step below the level of the superstars that won this race.
MarkFour29-09-2026 - the goal was not to allow any favorite to win if they themselves couldn't and not to put too much energy into cooperating with the other favorites that would help them. in most tactical races this is what happens. An outsider wins. MVDP has only one tactic attack hard early , brute force thats it. But if you do that at the end against weaker opposition , you dont have energy and you lose sprints Del Toro did not have a team, he is not Pogi so his actions are every limited. Sexias got only one instruction stick to Del Toro. Remco had no balls. Everybody behaved as per their characteristics.abstractengineer29-09-2026
- He BM won that fair n square with great effort, the rest lost it thru thinking of themselves 🤷
leedorney29-09-2026
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