Van der Poel pushed bizarre wattages at Gravel World Championship: "One level above Flanders and Roubaix"

The first Gravel World Championships under Dutch national gravel coach Laurens ten Dam were nothing if not unique. In the lead-up to the World Championships, he held a barbecue for the selected riders and he even participated in the global title race himself. However, his own race didn’t last long, as he soon found a bar to comfortably watch Mathieu van der Poel’s triumphant ride. In his podcast Live Slow Ride Fast, Ten Dam reflects extensively on the day of gravel racing.

Things quickly went wrong for the former pro rider and avid gravel cyclist shortly after the start. "We entered a muddy path, and I was on a good line, but then suddenly a Dutch rider went down in front of me — I think it was Luuk Herben. He fell right in front of me, and I ended up on this slippery skate-like track that I couldn’t get off, so I had to unclip and walk out. When we passed the finish for the first time after fourteen kilometers, I was in the fourth group or something like that," said Ten Dam.

"Afterward, we rode up to a group ahead, and then my chain came off. I couldn't get it back on quickly, which was strange since I was riding with a front derailleur. That had never happened to me before. After that, I was kind of in no-man's-land, and then a group, including Nathan Haas (former road cyclist, ed.), joined me. I ended up riding with them for quite a while."

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Ten Dam realizes the race is over and heads to a bar

Although Ten Dam was already far behind, he wanted to keep going, but things changed quickly when a determined pack of riders charged past him. "I was planning to do another lap, but then I heard a lot of heavy breathing and huffing and puffing behind me, and a whole group of guys in the 19 to 34 age category thundered past me. These were the 'Dixie guys' who had camped out on little stools (to secure a good starting spot, ed.). They had started behind me, and I thought, 'This is my sign.'"

"I also asked someone on the sidelines, 'How's the race going?' and I was told that Mathieu was already two minutes ahead after only thirty kilometers. I thought, 'No way, that’s incredibly fast.' Then I found a bar. They had a big screen there where I could watch the race, and that was my race," Ten Dam concluded his story about his own experience.

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Ten Dam: 'When I showed it to Niki, he said, "Forget it"'

Moving on to Van der Poel, the Dutchman pumped out incredible power during the race, which, according to Ten Dam, led to some mind-boggling wattages. "I got a little glimpse into the wattages required to take second place — Mathieu was out front for a while — the wattages are dizzying," said Ten Dam. "It shows just how high the level was. It was constant pushing, constant power. And Mathieu was still a minute ahead."

This season, Van der Poel won the spring classics, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, but apparently, his physical performance at the Gravel World Championships was on another level. "He said himself that these were his best wattages of the year, that compared to Flanders and Roubaix, he had to push even harder. Apparently, that’s what it takes to become gravel world champion. When I showed it to Niki (Terpstra, ed.), he just said, 'Forget it, we can’t do that anymore.'"