Mathieu van der Poel Issues 174km-Long Warning to the Climbers Ahead of Road Worlds

Mathieu van der Poel left Tadej Pogačar holding his beer when he completed a ridiculous 174km solo raid Sunday at the Tour de Luxembourg.

The big Dutchman attacked in the opening kilometers of the stage, romped over nearly 3,000m of rolling hills, and crossed the line four hours later to prove he’s peaking right on time for the world championships road race.

It was a Pogačar-esque exhibition that might have rattled Remco Evenepoel, Isaac del Toro, and Paul Seixas as they brace for a slugfest with MVDP this weekend in Montréal.

Speaking at the finish Sunday, Van der Poel said there was no grand plan behind his Luxembourg obliteration.

He just sent it.

“This wasn’t the plan before the start,” Van der Poel said when asked of his extra-early launch. “I just found myself alone right at the beginning of the race, and I simply rode at my own tempo all day.”

Rising Italian Davide Piganzoli finished fourth in the chase group in this final stage of Luxembourg to seal a breakout GC victory.

Van der Poel hits a peak, right on time

Van der Poel’s ride Sunday was off the charts.

His 174km escape was reportedly the longest solo win of the century, and more than double Pogačar’s longest-ever attack (81km) at Strade Bianche 2024.

It gave the 31-year-old a good excuse to pair some Adidas kicks with his Alpecin-Premier Tech team kit on the winner’s podium after he officially partnered the sportswear brand last week.

And this sponsor-pleasing escapade comes at a perfect time.

After winning the opening stage at Tour de Luxembourg on Wednesday, Van der Poel’s form was frustratingly inconsistent as he prepared to take on the climbers on a hilly course in Montréal.

His lightweight rivals should now consider themselves warned.

Van der Poel is peaking right on time, and he knows it.

“I had incredible legs today,” Van der Poel said Sunday at the finish. “The last few days, they weren’t really the legs I wanted. I came from Spain, and maybe I trained a little too much. But today I felt really good”

Stage racing over Grand Prixs

There were raised eyebrows when Van der Poel chose the Tour de Luxembourg as his final preparation race for worlds.

All the favorites for the rainbow jersey bar Wout van Aert took the logical option of racing through GP Québec and GP Montréal.

Van der Poel argued Luxembourg offered the more consistent block of racing he needed to reacclimate to the road after his mid-summer pivot toward the mountain bike.

And it worked well for him before.

He used the five-day Luxembourgish race to prepare for the Zurich Worlds in 2024.

That year, he finished second overall in Luxembourg and went on to hit the podium behind Pogačar and Ben O’Connor on a Swiss course far harder than what’s on tap in Montréal.

MVDP wouldn’t be drawn into making parallels.

“Above all, it’s the feeling from today that is important,” he said Sunday. “I always like coming here. It’s a really nice race, and it’s well organized, so I’m happy to win the final stage.”

Van der Poel will race above his weight class in Montréal

Van der Poel’s solo masterclass Sunday comes in the context of what’s been happening over the Atlantic.

Evenepoel, Seixas, and Del Toro – maybe the three top favorites for the world championships road race – have been making hay in their Canadian expedition.

Evenepoel just won a historic fourth TT world title and also won GP Québec. Del Toro delivered the ultimate road worlds tune-up victory at GP Montréal. Seixas podiumed at Montréal and took a bronze medal at the elite worlds time trial, just three days before he turns 20.

Van der Poel had suggested earlier in the week he might not stand a chance against these top climbers on the relentlessly hilly road worlds course.

The beefy cobble-basher had seen bad news in the 60-something kilo average of the top finishers at GP Montréal.

“I think [worlds] is just a little too difficult for me,” Van der Poel told NOS earlier this week. “That was pretty clear when you saw Sunday’s race [GP Montréal] and the types of riders who were at the front.”

‘You never know at a championships’

But nobody will be counting out MVDP from winning his second road race world title Sunday.

He revealed this week he purposely cut two kilos from his classics weight to be ready for the ramps of Montréal, and with eight monument victories and a road race rainbow jersey, he’s by far the most proven one-day racer in the pack.

With Pogačar sidelined, the road race will be more unpredictable than ever.

As Van der Poel proved Sunday in Luxembourg, anything is possible in the most open road worlds in years.

“You never know at a championships,” Van der Poel told NOS. “They can be unusual races. It is with national teams and without communication, so it is not like other races. I think my chances are small. But I am looking forward to it.”

MVDP has 174km more reason to be relishing road worlds after Sunday’s escapade.