Mathieu van der Poel conquered the 2023 UCI World Championship and wrote a new page in the history of the cycling thanks to an epic and spectacular win on the Scotland roads.
The Dutchman crossed first the finish line after more than 6 hours and 270 kms, from Edinburgh to Glasgow, ahead of the Belgian Wout van Aert, Slovenia Tadej Pogacar and Danish Mads Pedersen. The 28-year-old Alpecin-Deceuninck captain attacked the group of riders in the last 25 kms and held on to his time advantage despite a crash 16 kms before the finish line.
After the race, van der Poel said that he was “overwhelmed” by the victory. “It means everything,” the Dutchman said of his title. “It was one of the biggest goals I had left and to win it today was amazing. It almost completes my career, in my opinion. It’s maybe my biggest victory on the road.”
It was a remarkable win for Van der Poel, who had been targeting the rainbow jersey for several years. He is the first Dutch to conquer the rainbow jersey in almost 40 years, and the first cyclocross world champion to also win the road world championships on the same year.
