"It really wasn't fun anymore" - Mathieu van der Poel admits persisting back issues almost forced him into early retirement
Cycling
This winter's cyclocross campaign has arguably been Mathieu van der Poel's best. With that coming off the back of a fabulous 2023 on the road where he claimed the Rainbow Jersey, the Dutchman is right in the mix for the best bike rider on the planet.
It's not always been so easy for van der Poel however. Whilst his undoubted talent has always shone through, a persisting back injury almost brought his career to a premature halt. As he explains in an open and honest conversation with HUMO.
"The problems with my back were such a difficult period. It really wasn't fun anymore then. And as a result, unfortunately for Roxanne (his partner ed.), I wasn't the nicest person at home. But I immediately told her: If these problems continue, I will stop," he recalls. “The limit was in sight. I was almost done with it. If it had lasted longer… I don't know what I would have done. Fortunately, things got better over time by doing a lot of exercises.”
At times it seems like nothing can stop van der Poel but even nowadays the old back issue occasionally flares up once again. "When I start training again after a long rest, I feel my back acting up," he admits. "Then it sometimes crosses my mind: it won't happen, will it? But I have it under control. I do stability exercises almost every day and I go to the gym two to three times a week to train my back.”
Then you’ve not been following cycling since very long. It was kind of big news 21/22. Most people think it was because of his crash at the Olympics but that only made it worse, it had started earlier but initially he thought he could train and race through the pain until it stopped (just like Pinot and Alaphilippe and a few others - be warned Jonas). In the end he abandoned a cyclocross season to recover properly. His father may be an ass but it’s probably thanks to him he didn’t destroy his career trying to continue like everyone wished he would. Hope the link gets allowed for your catching up work https://velo.outsideonline.com/news/mathieu-van-der-poel-walks-recovery-tightrope-as-worlds-and-paris-roubaix-loom/
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- It looks like either year, they were sponsored by Specialized. Good to know.acem8214-04-2025
- Alcohol is never an excuse, on the contrary, it's an aggravating factor.
maria2024202414-04-2025 - In the race they talk constantly to each other; it seems as if they're teammates. Obviously, when the crucial moment arrive, they attack each other to win, but it's evident the respect, sympathy, and friendship between them.maria2024202414-04-2025
- True, sorryMistermaumau14-04-2025
- Wout Van Aert won a Monument (San Remo, 2020), so he wouldn't be in that article. He might be in an article of riders like Sagan who were truly exceptional and won fewer monuments that expected. As for these two, they've won the last 7 monuments, 10 of the last 12, 15 of the last 20. Merckx and de Vlaeminck weren't that dominant in their era. It really is special the way these two race with such admiration for each other along the way. Rivals, not enemies.RidesHills14-04-2025
- So drunk Belgians will always target MvDP because they are drunk. That can't be right. If drunk Belgians target all other cyclist equally, then it may be reasonable.
KerisVroom14-04-2025 - Nobody cares about this nonsense.
Front24214-04-2025 - Thanks! Hadn’t heard of that word so would have been hard to search very specifically without your input.Mistermaumau14-04-2025
- Ok, that’s this year’s gold medal for classy comments :-)Mistermaumau14-04-2025
- of course it’s predictable. a dad is proud of his son. nothing else matters, and his dad was a celebrated rider in his own right. maybe if people respected the human side of this story, and these people, we would see fewer bidons thrown. lastly as a dad, I appreciate this. a dad should have be given grief for showing pride and love for his child. we need more dads and examples like Adriemij14-04-2025