🎥 "We rode in MVDP zone": part-time teammate captures and explains Van der Poel and co's Gravel Worlds recon

While much of the Dutch delegation spent Thursday scouting the course together from the TeamNL house of national coach Laurens ten Dam in Waterloo and later enjoyed a group barbecue, Van der Poel and his Alpecin-Deceuninck teammates prepared for the world title fight between Halle and Leuven. Cameron Mason, a member of the Cyclocross Reds team of the Roodhooft brothers, filmed the event.

Alpecin-Deceuninck is by far the best-equipped team on the Gravel World Championship start list: besides Van der Poel, former world champion Gianni Vermeersch, Quinten Hermans, Timo Kielich, Xandro Meurisse and Germany’s Juri Hollmann are also participating. Alongside this core group, usually part of the WorldTour team, Van der Poel’s teammate Freddy Ovett and Mason joined Thursday's reconnaissance. For comparison: reigning champion Matej Mohoric is only supported by Matevz Govekar, while another top favorite, Jasper Stuyven, is going solo for Lidl-Trek.

"I’ve seen the course before, but it’s good to check it out again ahead of Sunday’s race. We're doing the reconnaissance together with all the Alpecin-Deceuninck riders or the cyclocross teams," Mason explains. In footage shot from his bike, we see that Van der Poel is the only rider out of the group of eight to complete the training session without leg warmers.

Reflecting on the day from his car, Mason recounted: "We completed the first part of our recon. From kilometer 46, we joined the course and rode into Leuven, where we completed the local lap. Now we have a good sense of the course and its current conditions," said the Brit. "We’ll do the rest of the course on Saturday."

"The course is fast, apart from a few muddy sections. We rode hard, in the MVDP zone," he laughs. "At least in the first part, then it was more relaxed. It was great and fun to do it with the Alpecin-Deceuninck boys and guest Freddy Ovett. Heading into Sunday, the course will be even faster, but I see plenty of sections where a difference can be made. It has a bit of everything, and it constantly changes," Mason analyzes in his YouTube video.