“No, no. This was my last race today” - Mathieu van der Poel shuts down talk of Il Lombardia after settling for bronze in crazy World Championship road race
CyclingSunday, 27 September 2026 at 22:46
Mathieu van der Poel has ruled out extending his 2026 road season to Il Lombardia after signing off with bronze in an extraordinary World Championship road race in Montreal.
The Dutchman had spent much of the final 70 kilometres trying to rip the race apart, repeatedly attacking on the Mont-Royal circuit and at one stage appearing to have taken control alongside Quinn Simmons and Primoz Roglic. In a race where the advantage changed hands over and over again, Van der Poel eventually had to settle for third behind new world champion Brandon McNulty and Michael Matthews.
It was not the rainbow jersey he had travelled to Canada for, but Van der Poel was satisfied with the way he had raced.
"Of course I came to try and become world champion, but I'm proud of the race I did," he told Cycling Pro Net afterwards. "It was what I had in mind. I wanted to go all in from far out already, to always be ahead of the moves from the real climbers, and I think I managed to do that well. In the end, it was still close."
Van der Poel attacks before the climbers can take control
That approach was visible long before the medals were decided. Van der Poel jumped into the first dangerous favourites move after France had spent lap after lap increasing the pressure, then remained at the front when Van Aert, Roglic, Oscar Onley, Anthon Charmig and Simmons formed a six-man group.
Rather than wait for the race to become a climbing contest, he kept attacking. One acceleration left only Simmons and Onley immediately able to follow, before Roglic gradually worked his way back. Van der Poel went again later and this time dropped Onley, leaving himself with Simmons and Roglic as the race entered its most chaotic phase.
That move was eventually pulled back, and McNulty later took advantage of another regrouping to launch the attack which carried him to the rainbow jersey. Van der Poel still had one more effort left on the final lap, attacking again as the American's advantage briefly came down towards ten seconds, but McNulty survived and Matthews eventually beat the Dutchman to silver.
"I think I did a really, really good performance today and I'm happy," Van der Poel said. "I did what I had to do and, yeah, it's bronze in the end."
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No Lombardia as Van der Poel calls time on 2026 road season
The way Van der Poel handled Montreal's repeated climbs inevitably raised the question of whether he might be tempted into one final road appearance at Il Lombardia.
His answer was immediate. "No, no. This was my last race today."
That makes Montreal the final chapter of Van der Poel's 2026 road campaign, one which he leaves without a Monument victory but with another World Championship medal and a final performance in which he spent much of the decisive phase on the attack.
"I think I can be happy," he said when asked to reflect on his season. "Of course, I missed a Monument, but I cannot win one every year. In general, I can be happy, and this is a nice finish to the road season."
Van der Poel therefore closes his road year with bronze in Montreal, two years after taking the same medal at the 2024 World Championships in Zurich, having once again raced for considerably more than third place.
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.
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- he backed del Toro to win over McNulty.whkman27-09-2026
- LOL! My thoughts exactly!frieders327-09-2026
- an amazing race from all angles even if McNulty didn't win. Healy closing the gap on his own, Remco coming back, jorgensen the ultimate teamate, Wout using himself up for remco, it was endlesswhkman27-09-2026
- first American to win since Lance...go ahead Lance hating fetishizers, weigh in on your hatred of Lance, this is your cuewhkman27-09-2026
- UAE still win with their domestiques with crazy solo even in WC and their pogacars domestiquges. Hahaha its impossible to beat that team. Wildmiguel27-09-2026
- how can you type and gargle Pogacar's balls at the same time?whkman27-09-2026
- Blah blah blah! Go back to kneeling at your Pogi shrine!frieders327-09-2026
- You really are clueless ! He's an American whether YOU like it or not!frieders327-09-2026
- Pogi can't win if he doesn't show up! Now back to your basement!frieders327-09-2026
- That was incredible. The whole race was such a classical version of a solo rider not being caught because no rider in the chase groups will use up their energy to have someone else win. And yet, Matthews gets silver?! Van der Poel got bronze?! I couldn’t look away for hours. That was a breathtaking race, SO much fun!RidesHills27-09-2026
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