"We can write a book about what we experience with him" - Mathieu van der Poel's training partners describe the man behind the rider

Everyone's seen or heard stories of what a superstar Mathieu van der Poel is on the bike. The reigning cyclocross world champion and recent Milano-Sanremo winner, he has had plenty of success. But what is the 28-year-old like away from the bike? Friends Niels Verdijck and Bram De Laat explain.

“We can write a book about what we experience with him," De Laat tells Het Nieuwsblad. "We went to watch a stage of the Tour of Belgium and then Mathieu aimed a half-full water bottle at my head from the peloton," he recalls with a smile.

"Mathieu always wants to win," De Laat continues. "After Zonhoven we went to eat fries together and he was able to relax there. That has done him good mentally. On the day of Hoogerheide we went by the camper and it was so relaxed. We knew right away: it's going to be good. And so it happened," he says, casting an eye back to van der Poel's cyclocross world championship success earlier this year.

"The toughest training I did with Mathieu was for the World Cup in Wollongong," reminisces Verdijck. "We had covered almost 230 kilometers and when we were almost home, he asked to add another hour. At 40 an hour, me in his wheel. That day we trained 270 kilometers at an average speed of 37.5 per hour. He was really good for that World Championship in Australia." Before De Laat adds, "He was then arrested there and ended up in prison between the drunks. We felt sorry for him. Mathieu is a very good fellow."