Mathieu van der Poel has become the first Dutch men’s world road race champion for nearly 40 years despite a crash and a protest that halted riders for almost an hour. Van der Poel crashed while leading the road race at the world championships, breaking his shoe and tearing his jersey, yet the Dutchman maintained his poise, quickly remounted and pulled away.
Prior to the crash, the race had been halted for about 45 minutes when a group of environmental protesters refused to leave the road. Van der Poel had been riding with two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar, one-day specialist Wout van Aert and Mads Pedersen, a former world champion. Despite the interruptions, Van der Poel managed to beat the cycling greats to finally add his name to the list of road world champions.
Mathieu van der Poel becomes world road cycling champion in Glasgow
World Cycling Championships road race in Scotland interrupted by protesters
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