Jasper Stuyven, the 32 year-old rider for Lidl-Trek and reigning European gravel champion, couldn’t secure a podium finish at the Gravel World Championships in Leuven, Belgium, on Sunday. Despite his efforts, he was unable to match the pace set by Mathieu van der Poel, who dominated the race to take the gold medal.
Reflecting on his performance, Stuyven admitted it wasn't his best day. "I suffered a lot today, I didn't have my best day. I think the support of the public helped me to keep going. I enjoyed it and thought it was great to be able to ride in the final," he told Wielerflits.
However, Stuyven was unable to respond when van der Poel and Florian Vermeersch made their decisive move. "At a certain point you try to gamble and not react to everything, I hoped that others would react, but that did not happen."
With limited cooperation in the chasing group, Stuyven knew his chances of catching the leaders were slim. “Then you know it’s going to be difficult. We didn’t go full circle with the three of us, we did half turns and therefore stayed around twenty seconds behind. The cooperation didn’t happen, especially because two of Mathieu’s teammates were on his wheel. When the spring broke, I knew they were riding away and we were fighting for third place.”
Commenting on van der Poel's performance, Stuyven acknowledged the Dutchman's ability to control a race, even without being at his absolute best. "I did not have the feeling that he had a super day, like last week. But it is common knowledge that someone like Mathieu does not need a super day to take control of the race."
Despite missing out on the podium, Stuyven’s showed his strength as a gravel competitor, and he will surely be looking to build on this result in future races.
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