Mathieu van der Poel is engaged! Roxanne Bertels says “A million times yes” in Instagram announcement
Cycling
Mathieu van der Poel and Roxanne Bertels are engaged. The couple shared the news in a joint Instagram post on Sunday, with Bertels writing “A million times yes” alongside a ring emoji. The opening photo shows the two holding hands, with the engagement ring visible on Bertels’ finger.
Congratulations followed in the comments, including a message from Adidas Cycling. The engagement comes as Van der Poel and Bertels prepare to become parents for the first time. The couple announced the pregnancy earlier this year and are expecting their first child in January.
Van der Poel’s cyclocross plans remain open
The announcement comes towards the end of a year in which Van der Poel won twice at the Tour de France and set a new men’s record with his eighth elite cyclocross world title in Hulst. He won stage nine in Ussel in July before taking the final stage in Paris, where he went clear with Tadej Pogacar over Montmartre and held off a sprint led by Alpecin - Premier Tech teammate Jasper Philipsen on the Champs-Elysees.
Van der Poel ended his road season with bronze at the World Championships in Montreal, behind Brandon McNulty and Michael Matthews. Earlier this month, he was named Dutch Cyclist of the Year for the fifth time, with Demi Vollering taking the women’s award at the same ceremony in Utrecht.
Read also
His winter schedule is still to be announced. Van der Poel’s first child is due in the same month as the Cyclocross World Championships in Ostend, where the elite men race on 31 January. He won the title at the Belgian venue in 2021, beating Wout van Aert, but has yet to commit to defending his rainbow jersey there.
Sunday’s news came from the couple themselves. Bertels shared the announcement on her own account, with Van der Poel listed as a collaborator on the post.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- It's going to happen at some point. It will happen to Tadej as well, we all get older. Jonas was in pretty great form at the tour. I still consider him a top two or three cyclist in the world, until he's not.awp15-11-2026
- mij, I am not so sure of that. I have been on a spine ward at a Denver hospital that had quite a few spinal injuries from mountain biking.BDBigGuy15-11-2026
- Pogi takes care of his teammates in races and training. Tadej Pogačar is widely praised within the cycling peloton for his fair and egalitarian leadership, actively supporting his UAE teammates both on the road during races and behind the scenes at training camps. Rather than acting like an untouchable superstar, he has intense team loyalty by sharing daily chores, giving up personal glory to help domestiques, and publicly praising their sacrifices. Unlike some Grand Tour contenders, like Vingegaard, who occasionally train away from their squads, Pogi consistently attends team training camps alongside his domestiques, making the exact same sacrifices to build friendship. I love how Pogačar shares his teammates-domestiques, either when they succeed or win in races or when they simply just do a good job for him. It has to be a great moral boost for them. And then they work even harder and go even deeper for Pogi. This is teamwork.PogiSloFans15-11-2026
- Yeah, what he said!Lozza15-11-2026
- I’m sure Jasper Philipsen would disagree with you.Lozza15-11-2026
- Article says he was “out for a spin around the town”, implying not off-road.Lozza15-11-2026
- let’s be honest, Alpecin is all about one rider - MVDP. I’m sure he gets whatever he needs, the rest get the scraps.mij15-11-2026
- there are more vicious injuries on a road bike than a mountain bike far and away.mij15-11-2026
- That'll be one crazy rider
Rafionain-Glas15-11-2026 - Many Europeans say that Austria, Switzerland and Slovenia are one of the most beautiful countries in Europe known for their stunning landscapes because of the Alp mountains, green forests, clean rivers and lakes and national parks.PogiSloFans15-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment