After 38 years, the Netherlands has another world champion on the road with Mathieu van der Poel. The Dutchman won on the 271 kilometer wet course between Edinburgh and Glasgow after a solo of 22 kilometers.
Joop Zoetemelk was the last Dutchman to become world champion in 1985. The 28-year-old Van der Poel crashed in rainy Scotland 16 kilometers from the finish, but the victory was not in danger. Van der Poel is the first man to become world champion on the road and in cyclocross. Wout van Aert was second and Tadej Pogacar third. The best Dutchman after Van der Poel was Dylan van Baarle. He finished in twelfth place. The ride had to be stopped after 80 kilometers because four climate activists were on the track and had glued themselves to the asphalt. The nine riders in the leading group and then the entire peloton had to get off their bikes. After a fifty-minute delay, the match continued. After the break, the course was set for the Glasgow circuits. Ten laps of 14.3 kilometers had to be completed. Each lap contained a whopping 39 turns. The 'Col de Montrose' also had to be conquered. The steep climb up Montrose Street. There was a strong race early on and at more than 100 kilometers the first big names had to release. Julian Alaphilippe (France), Kasper Asgreen (Denmark), Jasper Philipsen (Belgium) dropped out. Mathieu van der Poel placed an attack at about 90 kilometers, but he was unable to drive away. After a crash by Matteo Trentin, the Dutchman attacked again. This time he made a bigger gap with the peloton. However, Wout van Aert, Mads Pedersen, Tadej Pogacar and Alberto Bettiol, among others, were able to connect. Moments later, Remco Evenepoel also competed for the title. Together with his Belgian compatriots, he handed out pinpricks. In the end it was Bettiol who showed the boldest. The Italian took off more than 50 kilometers from the line and moments later had a lead of 45 seconds. A group including Van der Poel, Van Aert, Pogacar and Pedersen - Evenepoel had already been released earlier - successfully pursued. When they had caught the Italian again, the Dutchman attacked again at 22 kilometers from the finish. No one could follow him and even a fall didn't bother him. The fall resulted in a bloodied and torn shirt and a broken shoe, but no damage to the bike. This allowed Van der Poel to finish the ride sovereignly.
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