From dark hell to touching heaven, a rainbow sky. A Story of Redemption. ten months ago Mathieu van der Poel spent the night at the police station after having a Arguing with some girls on the eve of the World Championships in Wollongong (Australia) kept knocking on the door of his hotel. This Sunday the shadow of misfortune hovered over him again. Right turn, slippery surface… fall. The hyenas smelled blood from behind. And they weren’t just anyone: Tadej Pogacar, Wout van Aert and Mads Pedersen. But it was the Dutchman’s day, touched by the magic wand of the greatest in the sport. Without looking back, back to the bike. Move watts, clench your teeth. Fall down and get up. Life. minutes later, Van der Poel crossed the finish line in Glasgow and became world champion for the first time in his life, culminating in one of the best World Cup races in recent memory. Van Aert, who surprised his fellow travelers before the sprint, took silver. Just behind his historic archrival for the umpteenth time. The Endless Story. Seconds later he arrived Pogacar, who beat Pedersen by a mile to claim his first World Cup medal. day to remember.
Before the actual fire broke out, one of the contestants, looking to challenge the supremacy of the big favorite, suffered a premature setback. João Almeida went down in the neutralized kilometers and showed pain gestures in the neck area and injuries to the hands. Although he was able to continue the race after a few minutes of treatment by the medical car, he was disabled for the rest of the day. After the typical cuts, during which the Spanish cyclists could be seen very attentively on several occasions, a breakaway group of nine riders formed. But Doull, Dinham, Tejada, Vermaerke, Gamper, Townsend, Christensen, Neilands and Kelemen posed no threat. for the peloton, which fell back to over 8 minutes.
It was then, 191 km from the finish line, that the grotesque happened. A group of protesting activists entered the freeway, members taped their hands to the road. This required the usual protocol in these situations until the eviction was complete. All runners regrouped and continued the march with the same situation as before the interruption. Therefore, fleeing would retain its advantage. The problem? Due to the difficulties of the police, the interruption lasted up to 50 minutes to peel off the thick glue that adheres the demonstrators to the asphalt. Negative images that are already part of World Cup history.
unrepeatable show
The route from Glasgow was reached 151 km before the finish. Mauser, technical, sharp turns, ups and downs… A constant trap. The pace picked up significantly, largely thanks to the work of Italy and Belgium. With the breakaways within reach with seven laps to go, Almeida showed signs of weakness. At the same time a three-time world champion like Peter Sagan got off his bike and signed a sad farewell to his last World Cup. The big name carnage continued in the minutes that followed, with Asgreen, Alaphilippe and Philipsen falling out of sheer maturity. Soon the madness broke out…
The race went on in a frenzy of impressive spectacle that no team could control. After the escape was neutralized, everything reduced to a lead group of about 25 riders, where they could stay Alex Aranburu And Ion Izagirre. At his side Van der Poel, Van Aert, Pogacar, Evenepoel, Pedersen… Almost nothing. On different slopes, Evenepoel, Van der Poel and Pogacar attacked in that order, but the result was always the same: a regrouping. It was clear that the race would be a guerrilla war until the end, he said The question was who would score the winning goal and when.
If some epic ingredients were missing, the rain joined the party. In this scenario, the chances of different runners increased. Alberto Bettiol was one of them. The Italian played it from distance, all or nothing, and the game was about to go well for him. Having Van der Poel, Pogacar, Van Aert and Pedersen in pursuit is too much for anyone though. And when the Italian was within range in the middle of the slope, everything blew up. Van der Poel accelerated to 100%, removed Bettiol’s stickers and drove on. Van Aert, Pedersen and Pogacar couldn’t answer. It was impossible. The Loch Ness Monster was real and roamed the streets of Glasgow. 16 km before the finish, the happy autumn. Bruise on the right side, but that didn’t matter. His lead grew more and more and his face reflected the conviction of victory. Nothing could stop him. Despite the shock, he won by 1:37 minutes over Van Aert, his closest pursuer.
So, 38 years after the title of the mythical Joop Zoetemelk, Thanks to a 28-year-old cyclist ending (and not yet ending) one of the most incredible seasons in living memory, the Netherlands climbed to the top of the World Cup podium again. The order of wins in Milan-San Remo, Paríx-Roubaix and Rainbow are unique in the entire history of cycling. Add to that five cyclocross world titles, a tally that can grow next Saturday if he decides to “mess up” the mountain bike cross-country event. Who dares to stop the “monster”?
Results of the 90th World Cycling Championships (background)
1. Mathieu van der Poel (PBa) – 6h 07:27
2. Wout van Aert (Bel) – at 1:37
3. Tadej Pogacar (ESL) – 1:45
4. Mads Pedersen (Din) – mt
5. Stefan Küng (Sui) – 3:48
19 Alex Aranburu – 8:30
