"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".
Read also
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
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.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
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)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 4visitors 4
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- exactly, he had an amazing season, but with these overstatements they don‘t do him good.Ketterechts08-11-2026
- More to the point, it isn't his remaining goal.Renz08-11-2026
- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
Loading
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
4 Comments