Adrie van der Poel was the target of many accusations over the past week, of favouring Mathieu by designing the World Championships course in Hoogerheide to his favour. Although many riders, including Wout van Aert himself, have denied that, the former cyclocross legend will not forget what has happened over this period.
“We were often completely killed by the Belgian press. I can say that calmly and will not hurt anyone with it,” Adrie told Wielerflits following the unfolding of the World Championships. “Cyclocross has a huge potential and I work hard for it. I put my heart and soul into this. It sometimes hurts quite a bit when certain people start milking and whining.”
Van der Poel said he would quite the organization role within major cyclocross races following the events of the past week, naming the Belgian press as the main culprit behind the swarm of negative comments. “Fortunately you get a lot of support from the riders in the last two days, also from the top riders. And the mechanics, for whom I really had to fight not to let them walk through the crowd to the material station," he says.
Whether he will stick to his word or not remains to be seen, however despite the triumph of Mathieu van der Poel it remains a mixed week for father Adrie who has taken just as much heat from a portion of fans. "I really try to make it as pleasant and safe as possible for everyone. In hindsight, when we look back now, we see that we worked on it for a long time, but also that it paid off," he concluded.
