Timing, defensive Van Aert and one man short: Van der Poel and Van Baarle on why gold didn't happen

Mathieu van der Poel was the top favorite for gold at the Olympics in road cycling, but the Dutchman had to make do with a twelfth place on Saturday. Not what he had come for, but there was hardly any talk of disappointment afterwards. "It's a tough match," he declared to the NOS.

"When Remco went and nobody reacted, I knew it was going to be very difficult to come back. I said beforehand that he was one of the most dangerous men that you could possibly allow to take off," Van der Poel said of Remco Evenepoel's decisive attack from the group of favorites. Where the Belgian rode to the lead group and eventually soloed to gold, Van der Poel was trapped from that point on.

"Dylan (van Baarle, ed.) did well, by keeping the gap as small as possible. I then played all-or-nothing one more time on Montmartre and I got Wout with me, but of course he didn't ride because Remco was in front," the Dutch leader pointed to Wout van Aert, who reacted to everything Van der Poel did anyway. At Sporza: "That's his right of course. The second time the two of us were away again, but with Remco ahead, it made sense for him not to ride with us."

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Van der Poel hoped for decision after early attack

At the first time across Montmartre, the tricky cobblestone climb in Paris on the final circuit, the TeamNL leader went for it. Van der Poel hit the pedals hard and thus initially only got Van Aert along with him. "It wasn't so bad in itself how far into the red I went on that attack. I actually thought that the race was already over there, because we rode away with four or five and had a nice gap. Then you get a completely different race, but that's racing."

That turned out not to be the case, as more riders closed in, including Evenepoel. And he smelled an opportunity. "When we were caught, Remco went for it at the right moment. Whether I'm disappointed? It's not so bad. I think I was good, but it was just a very difficult race." Or as he put it for Sporza, "There was a merging of groups and Remco jumped away from behind. That was very well spotted. A merging of groups is always dangerous. Maybe I was also a bit on the limit. He is a deserved champion."

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Van Baarle had to make repairs

Van der Poel put it this way: Van Baarle, after Evenepoel's attack, made sure the Netherlands still had a chance at a medal. He kept the gap playable to the front riders. The fact that the Belgians were four guys and the Netherlands were three... That cost the team dearly in that phase, Van Baarle told NOS. "Daan (Hoole, ed.) did a super job in the beginning. You just notice that you are short one guy, to alternate a bit when I was riding in the lead. That's no different. I would have liked to stay with Mathieu until the very end, but I had to shift gears quickly and knew I had to ride full throttle or Mathieu wouldn't have a chance at all."

"It's been a grueling race, so I have to let that sink in," Van Baarle also said, knowing things didn't really go as planned for him and his leader. "When Mathieu attacked the first time, I tried to pick up my own pace and come back with the group. On the second climb after that, the pack split right in front of me, so when Remco went, I just rejoined. Then I knew I had to ride full speed until Mathieu could go again."

He concludes, "You can't always take the jackpot, can you? This was quite a day, mama mia. It is super special when you start like this at the Eiffel Tower and there were already a lot of people along the course. I don't think I will experience it often again, that there are so many people standing around, even on the Montmartre climb.