Mathieu van der Poel joins World Championships preparation of Greg Van Avermaet: 'Getting Mathieu into triathlon'
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Follow us on GoogleThat Mathieu van der Poel is a sportsman at heart, we already knew. In addition to his accomplishments on the bike, he used to be good at soccer, and other sports like running and golf also go well for him. Training buddy Greg Van Avermaet, preparing for a triathlon, got him into the water on Monday.
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So Van der Poel dove into the water. "Getting Mathieu van der Poel into triathlon," was Van Avermaet' s Strava headline accompanying the activity. The 2016 Olympic cycling champion swam two kilometers himself and did so in 40 minutes.
Van Avermaet and Van der Poel have been spotted cycling and running in recent weeks. After his active cycling career, the Belgian ex-pro is not sitting still: at the beginning of October he rode the World Gravel Championship and he is currently preparing himself for a World Triathlon Championship.
Continue reading below the Strava post!
Van Avermaet training for World Cup
Van Avermaet already won a triathlon in Girona, Spain, two weeks after his retirement as a cycling pro in 2023, under the watchful eye of German legend Jan Frodeno.
Last year he also delivered good performances in Knokke and Nice, where he qualified for next Sunday's World Championships in Marbella.
The Belgian is competing there in the 70.3 category, which means he must swim 1,900 meters, cycle 90 kilometers and finish by running a 21.1-kilometer half marathon.
Tom van der Salm (27) comes from the charming town of Zeilberg (Deurne) in the Netherlands and has been working as editor-in-chief & journalist at IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, In de Leiderstrui, since 2019. He travels with the peloton from the Tour de France to the AlUla Tour and from the World Championships in Rwanda or Canada to the Zilvermeercross in Mol. In his spare time he enjoys playing football, mountain biking, running, walking with his Labrador/Stabyhoun, investing, holidays, (specialty) beers, reading, cooking and watching sports & documentaries!
Contact: [email protected]
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