Mathieu van der Poel wins World Championships road race after late crash

Dutch star Mathieu van der Poel overcame a crash with 10 miles left to win the 168-mile road race at the world cycling championships

Mathieu van der Poel wins World Championships road race after late crash

Van der Poel, 28, won his first senior road cycling world medal, a decade after taking the junior road race title.

He had about a 35-second lead when he fell on a right turn and slid all the way across a wet, two-lane road in Glasgow, Scotland, on Sunday.

The trio chasing him — two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia, Olympic road race silver medalist and Tour de France sprint champion Wout van Aert of Belgium and 2019 World road race champion Mads Pedersen of Denmark — gained about 10 seconds.

Van der Poel, his jersey torn around his right armpit and thigh, his right elbow scraped red and something hanging from a damaged right shoe, then pulled away.

He ended up winning by 97 seconds over his rival van Aert after more than six hours in the saddle. Pogacar edged Pedersen for bronze.

Neilson Powless was the top American in 11th.

Van der Poel may be the world’s most versatile cyclist. He’s a five-time world champion in cyclo-cross, a world bronze medalist in mountain bike and owns a Tour de France stage victory and one-day race wins at Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

Van der Poel chose to race strictly mountain bike in his Olympic debut in Tokyo, crashed in the first lap and ultimately withdrew.

Road cycling worlds finish over the next week, featuring the women’s time trial on Thursday, the men’s time trial on Friday and the women’s road race next Sunday.

VIDEO: 2023 UCI World Championships Elite Mens Road Race Highlights

2023 UCI World Championships Elite Mens Road Race Top 10

1  VAN DER POEL Mathieu Netherlands 6:07:27
2  VAN AERT Wout Belgium 1:37
3  POGACAR Tadej Slovenia 1:45
4  PEDERSEN Mads Denmark 1:45
5  KÜNG Stefan Switzerland 3:48
6  STUYVEN Jasper Belgium 3:48
7  DINHAM Matthew Australia 3:48
8  SKUJINŠ Toms Latvia 3:48
9  BENOOT Tiesj Belgium 3:48
10  BETTIOL Alberto Italy 4:03