The Gavere World Cup had a very unusual incident when race leader Mathieu van der Poel gave a push to Felipe Nystrom, popular Costa Rican rider who was being lapped at the time. The incident led to a controversy on whether it was justified or not.
Nystrom had finished last in the race but, as a fan favourite, he made the day of some fans by stopping a few seconds to take a selfie with one right before being lapped and having his race ended. However he was on the track and in the line which the World Champion was following, van der Poel gave him a push and a shrug of the head in frustration. New fan footage shows the incident in another angle, including Nystrom stopping for several seconds.
“I feel terrible. It was 1,000% my fault what happened there. Mathieu had to push me - it should have been even harder. I was in the way and I feel very bad about it," Nystrom said following the incident, admitting the blame, then deciding to allow another teammate to take his spot in the Hulst World Cup race. "I don't really deserve to be here. I had a dream and I achieved it, but my mistake on Tuesday is too big for me to continue."
Van der Poel however, who went on to win the race, was sympathetic with Nystrom: "I read that he apologizes, but that's not even necessary. I wasn't angry with him either. Felipe made an error in judgment and that can happen. Everyone makes a mistake sometimes. He should certainly not give up his dream for that. I hope he stays here and continues to complete his planned program."
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Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- exactly, he had an amazing season, but with these overstatements they don‘t do him good.Ketterechts08-11-2026
- More to the point, it isn't his remaining goal.Renz08-11-2026
- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
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E foi assim que aconteceu o encontrão de Van der Poel con Felipe Nystrom #cyclocross
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