"I tried to put everybody on the limit" - Mathieu van der Poel becomes Gravel World Champion after flurry of attacks
Cycling
Mathieu van der Poel is one of the most talented cyclists on the planet and he has proven that once again today. He has become World Champion in his third discipline. The Dutchman won the Gravel World Championships this Sunday in style and has taken on another rainbow jersey.
"It was a big goal for me. It's super nice to add another rainbow to the collection in another discipline as well, I'm super happy with this one. It's super nice also to finish the season like this, it's amazing," van der Poel said in a post-race interview. He was the main favourite to win today, and he sealed the deal with a stellar performance that included attacks all throughout the afternoon, just as he likes.
"I wanted to make the race as hard as possible because I knew that in the local lap, with a big group, it could be a difficult situation for me," he explains. It is a tactic that works for the explosive rider, who is used to this type of off-road racing. Eventually, amongst the many Belgians, he found an ideal attacking partner.
"So I tried to put everybody on the limit and when Florian Vermeersch went and we were the two of us, we had a good cooperation," he adds. However he will remember Vermeersch beat him in the sprint of the 2021 Paris-Roubaix, so he knows that he couldn't settle with taking the race to a sprint after such a hard event.
"You never know. My legs were also hurting, I tried one last time on the final hard part of the course and found myself alone so it's always nice to celebrate like this," he concluded. Van der Poel will take time to debut this jersey - the same way he hasn't yet debuted his cyclocross world champion's jersey - but he will eventually show off as he is clearly one of the best riders in the discipline. "Like I said I enjoyed it and I'm super happy with the title".
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
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Mathieu van der Poel is the 2024 Men Gravel world champion! 👏🌈 As expected, the Dutch superstar had no rivals and spanked the Belgium team who had some questionable tactics in their own home, in Leuven. #Leuven2024
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