Mathieu van der Poel wins Dutch national title

Matthieu van der Poel won his fourth Dutch cyclo-cross title in Surhuisterveen this weekend. He took solo victory ahead of runner-up Lars van der Haar while his brother David van der Poel was third.

Mathieu van der Poel had a slower start but we steadily picked up the pace and eventually rode away from his rivals on the second lap. "It was not the intention to ride away," he told Nieuwsblad. "I wanted to stay together with the rest as long as possible to try and get David on the podium. But in a mud lane he had to get off the bike while I could stay on the bike. This created a hole and I decided not to wait."

Mathieu van der Poel continued building his lead through the final laps and won by over a minute. He said that he stayed smart and decided not to take any risks ahead of the next part of his season. "I have not taken any risks today. For example, the barriers were not very easy and I did not think it was worth trying to jump over."

Brief results