Mathieu van der Poel’s unbelievable start from the third row
He flies by everyone
In another segment of “JFC is Mathieu van der Poel good,” you have to see how fast the dude got to the front. Since this was his first ‘cross race of the year, despite being world champ, he still got a lousy place on the start line, way back in right field, essentially.
The Dutch rider was slotted in the third row, which for most mortals, would prove to be an impossible feat to get to the front on the first lap, if ever.
Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel are robots and this is all a simulation
Unfortunately you most likely won’t be seeing the Alpecin-Fenix rider again in ‘cross in 2021, or 2022. One of the greatest riders on both the road and dirt, van der Poel’s cyclocross season may be over already. His team announced its star would not start at Azencross in Loenhout or at the following World Cup in Hulst.
But you can still savour this little nugget. Van der Poel would get to the front, and ultimately finish second to Wout van Aert, despite a crash and sore back.
Check out the champ’s start where he goes from zero-50 in about five seconds.
