Saturday, August 3, 2024 at 5:48 PM
No Olympic gold for Mathieu van der Poel. The Dutchman started as one of the top favorites in the road race, but in Paris he came up against a strong block of Belgians and especially a magnificent Remco Evenepoel. “It was a difficult race,” he said afterwards at the NOS.
“When Remco left and no one responded, I knew immediately that it was going to be very difficult,” said MVDPwho had just put in a blistering acceleration himself. “I didn’t necessarily go deep into the red there. That wasn’t too bad. I actually thought the race was over there. We rode away with four or five men, all strong riders. We also had a nice gap, so I thought the race would be between us. But when we were caught again, Remco went at the right moment.”
“I had already said beforehand that he was one of the dangerous riders to let ride. Dylan (van Baarle, ed.) did well by keeping the gap as small as possible. I myself did all or nothing one more time for Montmartre. I got Wout (van Aert, ed.) with me and of course he didn’t ride, because Remco was in front. That’s the race situation.”
Van der Poel’s disappointment ‘is not too bad’, he says. “I think I was good, but it was just a very difficult race,” said the world champion, who eventually crossed the line in twelfth place.
