Mathieu van der Poel won a spectacular duel with a rally car on Saturday at the cycling criterium in La Nucia, Spain. Video footage, shared in a tweet by former rider Erik Dekker, shows Van der Poel defeating none other than multiple world rally champion SĂ©bastien Loeb.
The first part of the criterium was a Points Race, where Vuelta sensation Pablo Castrillo took the win. The Spaniard narrowly edged out Van der Poel in an exciting photo finish. Castrillo, who won two stages in this season's Vuelta, secured a transfer to Movistar. In the second event, the Elimination Race, Van der Poel emerged victorious, with Castrillo quickly eliminated. Thus, the overall criterium title went to the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider.
The grand finale was a spectacle pitting several riders against a rally car. Van der Poel impressively triumphed in this contest. He wasn’t the only one, as Spanish cycling hero Alejandro Valverde also managed to beat the race car. While Van der Poel faced off against Loeb, Valverde’s opponent was six-time Spanish rally champion Miguel Foster. El Imbatido, or "The Unbeatable," showed that at 44 years old, he’s still got plenty of strength left.