Mathieu van der Poel "not the strongest" for Montreal World Championships, says legendary Bernard Hinault: "But he may well be the smartest"
CyclingThursday, 17 September 2026 at 12:15
Mathieu van der Poel has wasted little time showing his road legs ahead of the World Championships, winning immediately on his return at the Tour de Luxembourg.
Yet with Montreal looming on September 27, Bernard Hinault is not pretending the Dutchman has been handed his ideal course. “I do not think he is necessarily the strongest rider for this course, but he may well be the smartest of them all,” the five-time Tour de France winner and 1980 world champion told De Telegraaf.
Van der Poel will face 273.7 kilometres and 3,803 metres of climbing in Canada, with 12 laps of the Mount Royal circuit and repeated ascents of Camillien-Houde and the steeper ramps around Polytechnique.
That is a very different challenge to the Glasgow streets on which he became world champion in 2023, but Hinault has already seen him survive a Worlds that looked even further outside his comfort zone.
Bernard Hinault was world champion in 1980
Luxembourg brings Van der Poel straight back up to speed
Zurich in 2024 carried 4,470 metres of elevation across almost 274 kilometres. Tadej Pogacar eventually rode away with the rainbow jersey, but Van der Poel survived the attritional race and sprinted to bronze behind Ben O'Connor.
His elite road World Championships record now includes two medals from his last two appearances:
| Year | World Championships | Result |
| 2019 | Yorkshire | 43rd |
| 2021 | Flanders | 8th |
| 2022 | Wollongong | DNF |
| 2023 | Glasgow | 1st - World champion |
| 2024 | Zurich | 3rd |
He had prepared for that Zurich Worlds at the Tour de Luxembourg too, winning a stage and finishing second overall before travelling to Switzerland. Two years later, Van der Poel has gone back to the same race after skipping the recent Canadian WorldTour double-header.
“I have good memories of the Tour de Luxembourg from two years ago,” he said before this year's race. “More importantly, I had a good World Championships in Zurich afterwards, which showed that this race was a very good final preparation.”
His first day back on the road could hardly have gone better. Racing on the road for the first time since winning the final stage of the Tour de France in Paris, Van der Poel attacked with 11 kilometres remaining on Stage 1. That move was eventually brought back, but he still had enough left to win the uphill sprint and take the opening leader's jersey.
The five-day race is primarily about restoring road rhythm after his recent mountain bike block. “After my mountain bike block, I can definitely use some race rhythm and competitive kilometres on the road,” Van der Poel explained. “That is the main goal for me here.”
Hinault sees a Worlds made for race instinct
The Montreal circuit has already given the leading contenders a useful preview. Isaac Del Toro beat Paul Seixas at the GP Montreal on September 13, with Brandon McNulty third, while Remco Evenepoel finished fifth. Van der Poel watched that dress rehearsal from Europe. Hinault expects the World Championships themselves to be considerably less predictable than the previous two editions.
Pogacar, winner in both Zurich and Kigali, will not defend the rainbow jersey after his season-ending Vuelta a Espana crash. Belgium arrive with Evenepoel and Wout van Aert, France have Seixas, Del Toro has already won on the circuit and Richard Carapaz is another name Hinault expects to feature.
“When Pogacar is there, everyone races against him,” Hinault said. “He accelerates once and says: ‘Goodbye, gentlemen.’ Now you have a group of around 10 to 15 riders who can win.”
Read also
The absence of team radio communication adds another layer once the race reaches its decisive phase. “You do not constantly have someone in your ear saying: ‘Watch out, do this or do that,’” Hinault said. “It comes down to the riders themselves.”
For Hinault, few riders are better equipped for that kind of racing than Van der Poel. “When it comes to reading such a pure race, Van der Poel is a master.”
His Glasgow victory provided the most obvious example, but Van der Poel has built much of his career around making decisions quickly in chaotic one-day races. Hinault also points to the basic reality of a World Championships: there is no need to be the best rider across three weeks, only across one afternoon. “You have to be the best on that specific day,” he said.
Van der Poel now has four more stages in Luxembourg before heading to Canada, having already opened his final road block before the World Championships with a victory.
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
- What no points for MTB world championship???? Wow poor Tom best alrounder out there and still loses a placepaultryan200217-09-2026
- Did God answer the question?Cyclingsbestfan17-09-2026
- For the time being, Pogi is taking things "step by step" ... next year, in the spring of 2027, he will stomp over everyone... except Remco. Patrick Evenepoel, Remco's father, is insinuating his son will beat Pogi in most of the races next year. This year he put Jonas Vingegaard in a box, next year it's Pogi's turn. Remco the G.O.A.T. !!!! ... not ...PogiSloFans17-09-2026
- Remco's daddy Patrick Evenepoel is already saying: "My son Remco will win the Giro. 100%."PogiSloFans17-09-2026
- OK, here are the facts: Fact 1: Remco officially finished second to Pogi. Fact 2: Vingegaard was second when he crashed and had to abandon. Fact 3: Remco therefore inherited second place. Fact 4: Remco had ridden an excellent Tour and beaten Pogi on Stage 15!?!? Well, officially he "beat him"... but Pogi gave him an early christmas gift. We all know it. It's not established that Remco would definitely have beaten Vingegaard over the remaining stages. His daddy Patrick should know better and is a fool believing his son Remco would have done so anyway. That's his personal delusional assessment, not something the race proved. He should know better. I guess we can say "like father, like son." There is a reasonable argument that Remco had improved substantially in 2026 and could have challenged Vingegaard for second. But saying he would have finished second in any case is utterly foolish. Daddy Patrick is entitled to his confidence, but “he would have been second anyway” is a delusional belief fact. I just can't understand the Evenepoel family... Remco already has enough criticism and backlash because of his "big mouth"... it's quicker than his brain, but why is his father making things even worse. Why?PogiSloFans17-09-2026
- I was also sad we didn't get to see a battle between Jonas and Remco. Remco saying exactly what he's thinking has become part of his brand,; the media would criticise Pog if he did the same, so he has been taught how to react. What I find strange is that Remco's father's opinion is treated as news. I guess that's understandable in Belgjum, and sites like this just repeat it for clicks.Hills3317-09-2026
- Yes. Yes it is 😂anonymouscyclist17-09-2026
- No, it's an advert for the G.O.A.T. !!! Every once in a while we have to let people know who Pogi is. Fools, also on this site, tend to forget that fact and then you read BS like: "OMG, Mas caught Pogi on a little hill, he's better than Pog." ... "MVDP and Van Aert beat Pogi in Paris Roubaix, they are No.1 cyclists, Pogi is only No.2" ... "Remco is a better all around cyclist than Pogi." etc. etc. PS: Don't insult my intelligence... and get a life.PogiSloFans17-09-2026
- He is the father not expected to give an unbiased opinion. For all his talents, Remco is a Primadonna as see from his latest temper tantrum vented on some lowly(in his opinion) rider in the Canadian races but when it comes to Pogi , he becomes a sycophant, a no balls Remco.abstractengineer17-09-2026
- Sex sells, The ad definitely helps the popularity of SS and the Platform. It will also detract from sports side for sportswomen. You cannot prevent SS, the predominant male viewers from jumping to conclusions, from other sportswomen to follow suit or most sportswomen from being objectified by male fans. What can be done is to prevent direct objectification like was done with Pogi in the Vuelta. Also coercion should be prevented as has happened in some cycling teamsabstractengineer17-09-2026
Loading
Write a comment