Mathieu van der Poel after #dwarsdoorhethageland: "A flat tyre, but on top of that two bike changes. That was too much. The gap I had to close was huge. It was over and out" Next: @belgium_tour. #alpecindeceuninck
Mathieu van der Poel has to settle for 13th place with ill-timed flat tyre: "Such things happen, but it's a pity, because this is a fun race"
CyclingSunday, 11 June 2023 at 01:00
Mathieu van der Poel was one of the main attention-drawers of Saturday's Dwars door het Hageland. The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider made his come back to racing after two months break and certainly didn't disappoint. The Paris-Roubaix champion was up there in the winning move, but was struck by bad luck, when he got a flat tire in worst moment possible.
"I got a rear wheel from the neutral motorbike, but it didn't roll well and the tire was too hard for gravel segments," Van der Poel explains to Het Laatste Nieuws. Van der Poel then changed bikes, but it didn't stop there. The Dutchman changed almost immediately again. "I put my bike computer on it, but it fell off again. Then I changed bikes again."
Read also
"What's coming is the most important thing. I felt pretty good despite the heat and the fact that it was my first race in a while," van der Poel shifts attention to his goals for summer. "I had good legs, but run into some bad luck. Such things happen, but it's a pity, because this is a fun race."
The Dutch rider will line up to Baloise Belgium Tour on Wednesday. “If I'm feeling good, I should be able to compete there for the general classification. A win would be nice, but not necessary," Van der Poel emphasizes that the big goal is in July. "Last year I wasn't me at Tour, everyone saw that. Now I feel very good and I've had a good preparation. I'm really looking forward to it."
Read also
claps 0visitors 605
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- MVDP dominates this sport even more than Pogaçar dominates road racing. Also he can beat Tadej on the road quite regularly, the opposite is unlikely.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- If you listen to team radios you'll hear each DS telling their riders to ride faster, fight their way to the front, and all occupy the same 8 places.Sweep22-12-2024
- You're talking about a sport where equipment and clothing is measured in grams.Sweep22-12-2024
- “During a TT, I am basically blind”. That was his quote after crashing into the barriers in a TT. The problem isn’t the UCI, radios or air bags. The problem is the riders and their teams.JoeyB22-12-2024
- I think you overestimate scientific knowledge and for sure the spreading of it. There are huge numbers of people in similar situations, if there were an easy solution somebody would be making big money out of it. Nerve pain can have many complex origins or be due to complex combinations of reasons. Even if you discover a reason there is not always a solution. Migraines haven’t been solved either. I have had lower back/hip nerve pains on and off for over 30 years, no kind of doctor has ever found a way to reduce, prevent or solve the problem. It may just be that some people are born with nerves that are too short or get twisted out of position during certain movements.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- Amazing ride by her and very promising for her future. On a side note, it’s a bit worrying all these wins riders have after emotional moments in their lives, someone will come up with emotional doping at some point. Maybe give them fake news just before a big race to get hormones pumping.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- I doubt he will have the energy to do that if he continues to do leadout for Phillipsenabstractengineer22-12-2024
- I know several people who’ve tried contacting sport airbag manufacturers and none of them ever got a reply. Might be hard to organise anything with such attitudes.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- It's the BBC. Who cares outside of little Britain.leodis22-12-2024
- Crawl back under your stone.leodis22-12-2024