The lights go out for Van der Poel in dramatic fashion at World Championships

Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) (Image credit: Getty Images Sport)

Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) saw his dreams of winning the rainbow evaporate dramatically on Sunday in the elite men's road race, with the Dutchman cracking on the last lap of the Yorkshire circuit at the UCI Road World Championships.

Van der Poel was in the key move of the race, having brought Matteo Trentin with him when he attacked with 33km to go. The pair linked up with the lead group of the time that contained Stefan Küng, Gianni Moscon and eventual winner Mads Pedersen, and for the next lap and a half Van der Poel looked like the overwhelming favourite for the title.

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Daniel Benson

Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.