"I make mine happiest with a day of golf": Roxanne Bertels opens up on life alongside Mathieu van der Poel during Tour visit
CyclingSunday, 12 July 2026 at 23:00
Roxanne Bertels, the partner of Mathieu van der Poel, paid a visit to the Tour de France this week and offered a glimpse into life as the partner of one of cycling's biggest stars.
Appearing on Belgian television programme Vive le Vélo alongside the partners of Jasper Philipsen and Jonas Rickaert, Bertels reflected on the support role she plays away from the spotlight and revealed what makes the Alpecin-Premier Tech rider happiest outside of racing.
Living with a professional athlete
Asked whether the cliché that every successful athlete has a strong woman behind him is true, Bertels agreed that offering support is an important part of the relationship. "We try to be there," she said.
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However, she explained that knowing how to help often depends on the situation. "Sometimes it's better to say nothing," Bertels added with a smile.
She also dismissed the idea that being in a relationship with a professional cyclist is fundamentally different from being with someone in any other demanding profession. "Whether you're with a cyclist, a lawyer or a doctor, it's expected that you stand behind your man. It's nice to be able to take care of someone."
Golf is the key to Van der Poel's happiness
The conversation also turned to what the riders enjoy most away from the pressures of competition. When asked what makes Van der Poel happiest, Bertels had a straightforward answer. "I make mine happiest with a day of golf," she laughed.
The interview comes just weeks after Bertels and Van der Poel announced that they are expecting their first child together. The couple revealed at the end of June that they are due to welcome their baby in January 2027
Van der Poel has already enjoyed a strong 2026 campaign, winning Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, E3 Saxo Classic and two stages of Tirreno-Adriatico. He also finished second at the Tour of Flanders behind Tadej Pogacar and fourth at Paris-Roubaix after mechanical problems disrupted his bid for another cobbled Monument victory.
Félix SernaCycling Journalist
Félix Serna is a writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2025. He covers professional cycling across both the men’s and women’s calendars, with a focus on UCI rankings, race developments, and rider performance. His work includes interview-based reports, liveblogs, and tournament coverage designed to provide clear, accurate context throughout the season.
In his reporting, Félix regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical reference. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. He holds a bachelor’s degree in International Studies.
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- In other news, it seems Tadej has wished for more than just time changes, he now no longer wants to ride in July or August. And here we have the problem with popular people making suggestions to sound logical to the masses but are basically nonsense. Firstly, weather is pretty unpredictable, we’ve also had pretty cold summers in the last 10 years (at least 2 years we’ve had the fireplace on and we live somewhere defined as warmer than average. This is France’s third but not worst heatwave of the year, the others were in May and June so be happy you can ride in July and what is there to avoid in August? Most of the Vuelta is in September. If you move the GTs further off summer you worsen the « Giro problem » of icey cold, pouring rain and closed mountain passes. There is no reliable solution to prevent surprises, the only thing that would help is planning in last-minute flexibility, ie warning and preparing everyone involved there may be changes, delays. Because of course no-one is going to start discussing working on or mitigating the real problem which is we are all part of the problem why these things are happening and the people involved are far worse than the average. I for one will be following a few days like most years when they pass close enough, on a bike. Already sick and tired of silly water rationing rules. If people would treat water responsibly the rest of the year, we’d have enough in reserve for during moments like this.Mistermaumau13-07-2026
- I think they were under additional serious pressure after realizing Jasper wasn't delivering. But I also agree with you, it was a good profile for MVDP.Ride197413-07-2026
- Hmm, had to look that up, not my domain. I guess it’s similar but weight is more tricky, not sure it’s linearly correlated. When I go karting with my son who these days can be 10kg heavier than me we always used to imagine weight to be a factor why he was faster when he was lighter. Then he turned out to be faster when heavier so he put it down to skill. Until I convinced the course staff to designate the karts oppositely and the tables turned. They were forced to admit there were quite big differences between identical karts.Mistermaumau13-07-2026
- Would be very interesting indeed
Rafionain-Glas13-07-2026 - You realise that at that time, A. Doping didn’t interest too many and people hda hard time distinguishing what was morally ok and what not inthat department. B. There were very few voices and those there were were generally split according to nationality with non-Belgian ones were far more suggestive. C. All his rivals were equally doped so there was no point for neutrals to point in any direction. At the time doping was not considered so much immoral as dangerous. There are excellent website giving a simple summary of historical doping or an exhaustive listing of riders pinned for doping in each year. Let me know if you’re interested.Jumpyjohn12-07-2026
- Weird way of arguing to dispel suspicion. Let’s try another weird way to argue suspicion. There is no evidence any anonymous member of the public wants to harm children but would you leave when your child is in a playground and some guy is sitting around close by? It’s hunan nature to be suspicious and up to a point, healthy and useful, don’t tell people to stop. Some of the statements are downright silly, if anyone could prove it, there would be no point in accusing it would be fact. There are enough reasons to be suspicious, besides those that get repeated, how about the number of other riders where there was never proof or evidence who later admitted having doped or got caught out retrospectively? In any case, even if something were revealed it’s unlikely to be definedas doping, they’d be really stupid to try that AGAIN, but anything unfair that technically isn’t classable as doping will be argued as being legal and allowed. Anyone who knows Mauro knows how his lawyers work and the freedom it gives them in searching for no-risk solutions for advantages. You all seem to forget (or ignore) his personal experimentation with dopingless doping.Jumpyjohn12-07-2026
- Pity Traen crashed out, could have been this years’ surpriseJumpyjohn12-07-2026
- Can’t really tell your boss or sponsor you’re sraying home if they need you at work or pay you for it though, or is this how you function? It’s always been obvious he’d prefer not to have to go anymore, at least ever since he got his first stage to dedicate to his granpa.Jumpyjohn12-07-2026
- I think he went for it because it was an interesting stage for him to go for and because he felt in shape, no other reason. Or do you imagine he’d have held back if Jasper had won any or even ALL the sprints?Jumpyjohn12-07-2026
- Tadej Pogačar is facing another wave of doping allegations on social media and from skeptics following his historically dominant performances at the Tour de France. I want Vingegaard to be put through a scanner and analyzed in detail because it is impossible that in the 2nd toughest race in the world in May in the toughest sport, he made all 180+ cyclists look like amateurs with 80% strength. I want him to be examined in detail. He must be doping, just like Pogi. I want Merlier to be tested for gene doping and everything possible, because he must be cheating. Belgians, speak up!!! It is not possible that he is 5 times better than everyone else in the sprints, and he makes them look like amateurs. He must be doping, just like Pogi. I just want to hear Belgians on this topic.mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales12-07-2026
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