Adrie van der Poel gets goosebumps from Mathieu and the 'current generation' but is less amused when the bidon-throwing incident is mentioned

Adrie van der Poel cannot get his head around it: the current generation in cycling makes him feel overjoyed. But he also cannot believe that his son Mathieu van der Poel (not for the first time) was the victim of a madman on the side of the road, who this time threw a bidon at his face. An interview with mixed emotions and the NOS followed....

First, the story's positive side is that van der Poel junior won his third Paris-Roubaix in a row on Sunday. "Of course, I'm standing here as a proud father. Winning one of these races is fantastic. But after three, you don't know what to say. When you see the list of achievements of the current top cyclists, it just gives you goosebumps. And then the way they do it: about seven or eight riders have changed the sport of cycling in recent years in a positive way."

Van der Poel senior says he is on the edge of his seat watching the current generation of cyclists. "We should cherish this generation," he said. And according to him, Mads Pedersen was one of them in Paris-Roubaix. "It is a great shame that a flat tire dropped him because he is also a man for such a race. Then Tadej (Pogacar, ed.) dropped himself, and Matje had a flat. Those were moments that seriously increased the heart rate. We saw a beautiful, animated race with five or six of the favorites in it."

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Adrie van der Poel saw a 'highly aggressive race' with a big blemish

"It was a very aggressive race if you look at the differences at the end. A real nail-biter', he continued enthusiastically. Father Adrie was not surprised that Mathieu van der Poel was on his last legs in the final after a ridiculously tough day. 'In the final, the wind was really to their disadvantage, and although they rode away from the finish line with some men at 70 km/h, the race had already burst open much earlier. You take that with you, so yes..."

It also didn't help that Van der Poel was quickly left alone after a crash involving Pogacar—a tricky problem, but one that forced Alpecin-Deceuninck to play it smart. "If Pogacar crashes, you must decide whether to continue or wait. You don't know how things will go, but luckily, they can see a lot on the computer, and from the car, they make sure that the fuel is topped up sufficiently. That goes a long way."

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Adrie van der Poel's face is less amused by the bidon incident

And then there was the person who felt the need to throw a full bidon at van der Poel in the heat of the final. "Attempted manslaughter," the day's winner himself said of the incident. His father was angry: "I saw it, but what can I say? Some people never learn, so all we can say is: if you intend to go out in the morning to throw bidons, stay home."

Read also

Pogacar disappoints Strava fans after "one of the highest power outputs I’ve ever seen" and enjoys Roubaix shower after crash

🎥 "Attempted manslaughter," fumed an outraged van der Poel after bidon incident — Belgian fan has footage

Younger Pidcock finished dead last one hour after Van der Poel, in Paris-Roubaix: "Van Aert hit me when he fell"

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