Mathieu van der Poel started the final stage of the Tour of Luxembourg in the leader's jersey, but on Sunday afternoon, Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) took the overall victory. The world champion found himself isolated in the (entertaining) final stage and seemed to be focusing mainly on UAE-Team Emirates duo Marc Hirschi and Juan Ayuso, allowing Tiberi to break away without others noticing it. Afterward, MVDP looked back on his performance in Luxembourg.
"Unfortunately, I missed out on the win," the eventual runner-up in the final standings commented. "As I've said many times this tour, it's a shame we lost a few guys from the team. At a stage like this, I could have used some support. The local lap here was very tough."
On to the World Championship: Van der Poel takes good feeling and confidence boost from Luxembourg with him
"In the final, we could have controlled things more otherwise," continued the 29-year-old Kapellen man who finished sixth in Luxembourg City. "But I think I showed I had the legs to win, but it's quite difficult to make the difference yourself. Especially when people take turns attacking. You have to gamble a bit then."
In any case, Van der Poel is heading to Zurich with a good feeling, where one week later - on Sunday, Sept. 29 - he will compete in the Cycling World Championship road race. "I'm happy with the feeling," said the defending champion. "The legs were good here in Luxembourg. I also just enjoyed it. On the last steep climb of this stage, I also noticed that I was riding well. I can be happy with that." So Van der Poel can spend the next six days preparing with a good feeling for the power display called the World Championships.
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