VIDEO: Mathieu van der Poel vs professional Rally driver showdown in Spain

Some riders are taking the off-season for some much deserved rest, travelling, training already for the 2025 season or even singing dressed up as a squirrel on national television... After Wout van Aert put himself up on stage this Friday night in the Masked Singer TV show in Belgium, the next day we see his rival Mathieu van der Poel race against a professional rally driver.

Resident in Spain, van der Poel was invited for the La Nucia Granfondo this weekend which counted on several current and past professional riders. He was definitely a headliner and this Saturday - the first day of the event - saw several moments of spectacle and one such moment featured a race between the Gravel and Cyclocross World Champion against a professional Rally driver Miguel Ángel Fuster.

There was a handicap in the race, but it proved to be quite a close one, and in videos recorded by fans at the event it was possible to see the most unusual kind of race, actually being won by the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider who is taking the off-season to enjoy himself on the bike in a way that regular schedule wouldn't allow for.