Mathieu van der Poel reminded the mountain bike world he’s here for a short time, and a good time. The Dutch rider stormed from deep in the field to finish sixth Sunday at the UCI World Cup round in Les Gets, while Canadian Cole Punchard’s strong ride ended in frustration after a flat tire. The Huntsville, Ont., rider was beyond impressive, leading for the majority of the race, resplendent in his national championship jersey. Despite the bad luck, it’s clear his form bodes well for the upcoming under-23 world championships.
Bad start, good finish
Starting on the fifth row, van der Poel quickly dropped to 50th spot on the opening lap. But the Alpecin–Deceuninck star clawed back time on the climbs. He would steadily picking off riders until he reached the top 10 by mid-race. By the fifth of eight laps he had latched onto the lead group, climbing with ease while taking few risks on the tricky descents. It was clear he was most likely the strongest of the field. But the multiple world champion would lose anywhere from five to ten seconds on the descent, only to make it back up the climb. As the race went on, he seemed to get in a better groove and lose less time. Perhaps with a few more rides on his MTB he will be poised for another rainbow jersey at the MTB Worlds in Switzerland—something that has eluded him in his illustrious career.
A promising ride?
For a moment it did seem like the gravel, ‘cross and former road world champ might even fight for the win. He was still in contact with the leaders on the penultimate lap but couldn’t hold the pace when the accelerations came late. Even so, sixth place marked a successful return to the mountain bike after a low-key spring campaign on the dirt.
“The most important thing is to try to finish the race and have a full race in your legs. That should hopefully help for the world championships in two weeks,” he said before the race.
France’s Luca Martin took the win ahead of Mathias Flückiger of Switzerland and Italy’s Luca Braidot. Punchard finished tenth, but without the flat, he may very well have had the first win for a Canadian man since good ol’ Geoff Kabush in 2009.
Meanwhile, Isabella Holmgren—fresh off her incredible overall win at the Tour de l’Avenir—jumped on her MTB for the under-23 race. Despite having just completed the six-stage race on Friday, she finished third, resplendent in her rainbow jersey.