Mathieu van der Poel: "Carelessness is one of my great strengths"

Mathieu van der Poel has talked about some personal details of his life in a recent interview, tackling a few interesting points regarding his relationship and how he think his carelessness has become one of his most important personality traits.

"That carelessness is one of my great strengths. I don't lose sleep over anything. Not even from the pressure or opinions of the outside world," van der Poel shared with Knack magazine. "Maybe more in the past, but after all the good and bad experiences I have learned to put that aside. If something keeps me awake, it is because I am not reaching my desired level. But what do people think about that? Not really. I never want to prove anything to anyone else, just to myself.”

The Dutchman was also asked about his partner Roxanne Bertels, to which he replied in quite a lot of detail the influence that she has had in his career over recent times. "Especially since we moved in together four years ago. For example, we like to go to bed at nine o'clock. Enjoy watching a Netflix series together. I now also realize how important rest is after a tough workout."

"In the past, when I worked a lot less hours as a cross-country rider, it was much more difficult for me to lie down afterwards. That wasn't necessary then. Now it works much better. Here in Spain I don't even have my PlayStation with me, while I used to play Fortnite for hours," he admits.

Van der Poel has went through many ups and downs throughout the past few years, but has already created a career that will likely stand the test of times, as one of the most popular and successful riders both in cyclocross and road racing. "Roxanne saw what really happened in Australia. And how unjustified that arrest was. That had as deep an impact on her as it did on me. She takes care of me, sympathizes with me and wanted to become world champion as much as I did," he tells. 

"If she succeeds after a year's delay, she reacts a little more emotionally, such as with that beautiful Instagram post. Roxanne has such a big heart. If everyone was like Roxanne, we would live in a much better world. Ten years ago she lost one of her best friends in an accident. That really scarred her. That's why she realizes how lucky we are and how much we should enjoy the beautiful moments. After all, every day could be the last. For example, we never leave with an argument. She hates that, we always talk things out straight away."