Tom Dumoulin praises Mathieu Van der Poel's ride to rainbow jersey: "He dares to throw the bat in the coop and lose"

Like all cycling fans, cycling analysts rejoiced in Mathieu van der Poel's unparalleled victory in the road race of the World Cycling Championships in Glasgow. Afterwards, they gave their vision through their own channels of what had happened in more than 270 kilometers.

"Phew, I'm still recovering. Incredible, really very special. We have another world champion after 38 years!" is the first reaction of Tom Dumoulin - as an analyst at the NOS - after a thrilling race.

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Then he explains what makes Van der Poel such a good cyclist. "He dares to attack and rides with bravura. He dares to throw the bat in the coop and lose. I saw a man with a mission, who was not concerned by his competitors. Van Aert has always lost all his energy closing gaps. Van der Poel hardly ever responds, maybe a few times. Van Aert may have had good legs, but he lost all his energy reacting."

Dumoulin also proved to be a good predictor. Before the race he already announced that Van der Poel would win. "I think he looks super fit. He's going to win today. I'm just going to put it on the table here, he's going to win today," he said. After the finish he came back with a smile. "He made my analyst career, haha! I can say what I want here for years to come. I saw the sparkling Mathieu again, which you didn't see in the Tour. He was sick there and not fresh. Today I saw another interview of a Mathieu in top form."

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