The Dutchman Mathieu Van der Poel, who won his first road world championship in Glasgow last August, shone this Sunday at the Madrid Criterium, where he won the road test before the attentive gaze of hundreds of fans who gathered. They gathered on Gran Vía.
Van der Poel was the great attraction of the Madrid Criterium and the Dutchman confirmed it by taking a crowd bath in the Spanish capital, as was evident in the signing of autographs with Alberto Contador in an establishment in the Plaza de Callao a few hours before riding a bicycle along Gran Vía.
The Dutch cyclist wore the world champion's rainbow jersey in Madrid and competed in the two Madrid Criterium events, the elimination race and the road race.
The first race, the elimination race, over a 27.5 kilometer route, was awarded to veteran Luis León Sánchez, who will turn 40 on November 24 and this season ends almost two decades as a professional cyclist since his debut in 2004 in the ranks of Liberty Sanitas.
In the second, the road race, in twenty laps of a 1.1 kilometer circular route along the Gran Vía, Van der Poel won, leading the leading group and, in the last meters, he escaped alone to reach the goal first.
With his victory in Madrid, Van der Poel replaces the Slovenian Tadej Pogacar on the list of winners, who won in 2022 in the first edition of the Criterium.
"I have enjoyed it a lot. The people have been very kind to me and it has been very nice to run in Madrid," said Van der Poel, at the end of the race. The Alpecin cyclist looks good in his new rainbow jersey.
