Mathieu van der Poel has accidentally dyed his hair blond as he prepares to make his cyclo-cross debut, blaming his new look on his partner Roxanne Bertels for applying a spray to his usually darker-coloured hair.
The Alpecin-Deceuninck has previously starred in Alpecin’s promotion video for their shampoo but could only joke about his new strawberry blond look when he took part in an Instagram video with Matt Stephens during the Zwift Academy event in Spain.
“My girlfriend made a mistake with a spray… It turned out blond. You get used to it…” Van der Poel said deadpan, when Stephens asked him about his new hair colour and involved him in his latest spoof review of hotel hairdryers.
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Van der Poel is in Spain to train for his cyclocross season. He is due to race for the first time on November 27 at the UCI Cyclocross World Cup in Hulst. He will then race intensely during the holiday period and target the cyclo-cross World Championships in Hoogerheide, in the Netherlands, on February 5.
Van der Poel will clash with Tom Pidcock in Hulst but major rival Wout van Aert has opted to avoid a showdown on his cyclo-cross debut and will ride the X2O Trofee Kortrijk-Urban Cross on Saturday November 26.
The first three-way battle between the big three of cyclocross and also their specialist rivals is expected to happen at the Antwerp World Cup on December 4 or a week later in the new Dublin World Cup race.
Van der Poel has been training in Spain for a while, riding with different teammates, including Gravel World Champion Gianni Vermeersch, as he gets back to fitness after a break. He has also attended the Zwift Academy finals, which sees the winner awarded a place at the Alpecin-Deceuninck development team.
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