"I thought: what is happening here actually?": Van der Haar says goodbye to Dutch Nationals with emotional silver medal

Everything comes to an end eventually, and this weekend marked the last national championships for Lars van der Haar. The veteran Dutch rider already announced that he will put an end to his long and successful career after the 2025-2026 season is over, and he wanted to say goodbye in style. While he ultimately finished just seconds behind the new champion Tibor Del Grosso, Van der Haar’s silver medal felt almost like a victory for him.

The race turned into a duel between generations. Tibor Del Grosso, one of the brightest young talents in the sport, seemed to have the title secured. However, in the final laps, Van der Haar found a second wind. He dropped his teammate Pim Ronhaar and began closing the gap to the front, sending the spectators into a frenzy.

"I noticed that the people were going crazy, but I was becoming crazy myself too. I thought: what is happening here actually?" Van der Haar said while speaking to In de Leiderstrui.

He admitted that he hadn't planned to race for the win, and his focus had simply been on securing a podium spot. "I did everything I could, but I must say quite honestly that I was totally not occupied with that when I attacked in that group. I was just focused on the third place," he explained.

"That was what was going around in my head: it would be so beautiful to stand on the podium one more time. Maybe because of that I was too little occupied with the race ahead of me, but on the other hand because of that I still had the energy at the end. Because I rode in the last wheel of that group."

By the time he realized the gold medal was within reach, it was slightly too late to bridge the final gap to Del Grosso. "I only thought at the end myself that it was possible, but eventually it turned out to be just those five seconds too much and Tibor could hold it."

Van der Haar’s performance was even more impressive given his shape during the past races. His Christmas campaign was apparently affected by a freak accident at home involving his family.

"I had no ideal run-up to the Christmas period, because just before I had fallen down the stairs with my daughter and went through my ankle there," he revealed. "In Hofstade I then went through my other ankle, which was just annoying."

These injuries forced him to sit out several races to recover in time for the national championships. "That made it a rotten period, but I took some rest, skipped a few races and now my ankle was at 90 percent. And that was enough to become second here."

The venue in Huijbergen holds a special place in Van der Haar’s career statistics. Sunday’s result ensured he maintained a perfect podium record on this specific course.

"I did everything I could and find it beautiful to end my last national championship as vice-champion. I have ridden five championships here in Huijbergen and have achieved a medal five times, so this is a nice closer," he concluded.