“That was not the plan” - Mathieu van der Poel stuns Luxembourg with accidental 170km solo raid just days before World Championships
Cycling
Mathieu van der Poel has completed his final race before the World Championships with an astonishing 170-kilometre solo victory at the Tour de Luxembourg - despite insisting afterwards that the move was never supposed to happen.
The Dutchman found himself clear almost immediately after the start of the 177-kilometre final stage from Mersch to Luxembourg-Limpertsberg and simply kept riding.
By the finish, what had started as an unplanned early move had delivered Van der Poel his second stage victory of the week, four days after he had also won the opening stage. “No idea,” Van der Poel said when asked what had just happened. “That was not the plan before the start, but I found myself alone from the start of the race in fact, and I just rode my tempo the whole day.”
A group eventually formed in pursuit, but Van der Poel continued at the front while collecting maximum points over the Côte de Nommern, Montée de Gralingen and Côte de Kautenbach.
His advantage later stretched beyond six minutes, with the Dutchman starting the day almost ten minutes down on GC and therefore posing no immediate threat to eventual overall winner Davide Piganzoli.
“I decided to just go all-out”
Van der Poel had initially expected the riders behind to bridge across. “At first I thought the chasers would catch up to me, but I just continued to ride at my power and the gap grew out again, so at that point I decided to just go all-out until the finish,” he explained.
They never made it.
Van der Poel remained clear through the closing circuits in Luxembourg and completed the enormous solo to take another victory, as well as securing the mountains classification.
It brought a remarkable end to a week Van der Poel has used as his final road-racing preparation for the World Championships in Montreal. After winning Stage 1, he said he could still feel a heavy recent training block in his legs and described the hard race efforts in Luxembourg as exactly what he still needed.
He also played down his prospects for Montreal, admitting that he believes the World Championship course is likely to be just a little too difficult for him. That caution has not disappeared, but his final racing evidence before Canada could hardly have been more emphatic.
Read also
Van der Poel leaves Luxembourg with two stage victories, the mountains jersey and a final-day solo extending across almost the entire stage. The 170-kilometre raid may not have been planned, but once the gap began to grow, he made sure it counted.
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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- Pidcock finished 9th place, 29 minutes down. he is a helluva rider, so gutsy. and he is amazing at all disciplines. but this headline is . . .mij09-11-2026
- I know, watch the video. and listen to her competitors. it was a tricky tacky call at best. WTF is this guy talking about??? my original comment was from the picture it didn't look like anything.mij09-11-2026
- I dunno what you're talking about. you make no sense. MS's competitor and the competitors coach said it was BS. she didn't deviate in a way that relegation should be required. revel LOL. you're so cool, in your own mind.mij09-11-2026
- deviation lol, watch the videomij09-11-2026
- the 'No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines' comment was unfortunately a bit off. didn't you just boast about your principles in the comments section of another article?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- Are you MrMauMau 2.0? Nothing you are saying is really relevant. Vaguely connected, but irrelevant. The conversation is whether Schreiber impeded Brand or not.
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026
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