Climate protest causes World Cup chaos
Van der Poel crashes into gang and triumphs
8/6/2023 5:52 p.m
Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel wins the road race at the World Cycling Championships and takes home the coveted rainbow jersey. The 28-year-old wins after 271.1 kilometers as a soloist. The race was interrupted in the initial phase for almost an hour because of a protest by activists.
Mathieu van der Poel tore off the defective fastener of his shoe while driving at full speed, the cycling star ignored the pain in his bleeding knee and the abrasions under his tattered jersey: The Dutchman is with enormous passion, a big fighting heart and a lot of courage despite a late crash to victory in the memorable road race of the World Cycling Championships in Glasgow. The reigning cross-country world champion stormed into the rainbow jersey after 271.1 intensive kilometers and celebrated the greatest success of his career – 49 years after his grandfather Raymond Poulidor, who died in 2019, finished runner-up in the world championship. Van der Poel is the first Dutch world champion since Joop Zoetemelk (1985).
Van der Poel, winner of the classics Milan-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix in the current season, referred his long-term rival Wout van Aert (Belgium / + 1:37 minutes) and the tour second Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia / + 1:45) to your seats. The six German starters had nothing to do with the decision. Rudi Altig, who triumphed at the Nürburgring in 1966, remains the last title holder. “It’s incredible. I can’t even imagine riding in the rainbow jersey. If I hadn’t won the title, I would have had sleepless nights,” said the Dutch cycling star.
“It’s a bit of a rematch for last year,” said van der Poel. After all, victory in the World Cup road race had already been planned for 2022 in Wollongong. The venture ended at an Australian police station – noisy teenagers had disturbed his night’s sleep. The dispute escalated. The preparation was disrupted. Van der Poel gave up exhausted after 30 kilometers. In Glasgow everything went according to plan.
Several toxic climbs
After the start in Edinburgh, the drivers were able to enjoy the scenic Scottish landscape longer than planned. After a little more than 90 minutes, an adhesive protest by environmental activists caused an involuntary and almost one-hour forced break. In the meantime, former French world champion Julian Alaphilippe posed for a selfie, van der Poel made small talk, and other drivers took a seat in the accompanying cars. While a police bus pushed its way through the waiting professional cyclists, UCI President David Lappartient personally informed about the status of developments. The race resumed at 12:15 p.m. local time (1:15 p.m.). Five people were arrested.
Despite cold muscles, the field started moving at high speed after the clearance and reached the tricky street circuit in Glasgow after around 120 kilometers, which presented the drivers with great challenges. The 14.3 kilometer lap, which had to be completed ten times, was extremely winding and required strength and tactical flair with several poisonous climbs.
Track architect “must have been to the pub”
“The guy who designed this track must have been in the pub,” Belgian titleholder Remco Evenepoel had previously said: “With all the curves, it’s going to be quite a show.” Hectic quickly broke out, even if the feared rain only set in in the final. The first falls happened. The lack of the usual team radio caused additional stress. The pace was high – and claimed prominent victims early on. Well-known drivers like Alaphilippe, Jasper Philipsen (Belgium) and Kasper Asgreen (Denmark) dropped out of the leading group with 100 kilometers to go.
A relentless elimination drive developed. Van der Poel, van Aert, Evenepoel, Pogacar – the stars attacked each other well before the finish. Classic specialist John Degenkolb kept up for a long time, but as the last German, he had to give up more than 50 km before the end. Evenepoel also retired early from the race for victory.
The rain-soaked asphalt increased the risk on the final laps – and even specialists like van der Poel got into trouble. After the Dutchman looked like the certain winner after a brilliant attack, van der Poel fell before the final lap. Visibly injured, he was back on his bike after a few seconds and successfully continued his solo ride to the finish.