Van der Poel's massive breakaway win sets a new record that even Pogačar would be proud of

Van der Poel came to Luxembourg with the goal of preparing for the World Cycling Championships. He won the first stage right away, but things didn’t go quite as planned for him after that. He lost his lead in the second stage and finished seven minutes behind in stage three. He also did not compete in the time trial, but that was a good decision.

Because in the final stage, the Dutchman was unstoppable. The hilly stage already seemed like a great opportunity for him, but no one expected him to break away just four kilometers after the starting gun. He set off on his own adventure. The chasing group of breakaway riders only lost more time to the unstoppable star. And the peloton was left in the dust.

Overall winner Davide Piganzoli (Visma | Lease a Bike) watched in awe. “It’s unbelievable. He was alone at the front, and in the peloton there were six or seven guys riding full throttle. But we were never able to catch him—hats off to him.” And Van der Poel? It wasn’t part of the plan, he said afterward. The “incredible legs” that secured him the victory would come in handy at the World Championships this coming Sunday.

There, Van der Poel hopes to claim his second world road title. But he himself knows that the course in Montreal is very different from the one he tackled in Glasgow. “I think the course is just a little different. I think it’s still going to be a bit too tough for me, considering the riders who were at the front last Sunday,” he said, referring to the GP Montréal, won by Isaac Del Toro.

But the Dutchman is known for springing surprises. What’s more, he seems to be in top form. That form earned him a remarkable record in Luxembourg. Until now, his longest solo victory had been at Paris-Roubaix in 2024 (59 kilometers, ed.), but in Luxembourg, he set the record for the longest solo victory of the 21st century in any elite race. Again: a feat rarely seen before.

On the NOS Cycling Podcast, Stef Clement and Ellen van Dijk are at a loss for words to describe that performance: “Leave it to Van der Poel to do something special. The Tour of Luxembourg seems like a tiny, obscure race compared to the World Time Trial Championships, but he still manages to turn it into something special. He called it training for the World Championships, but I think even Pogačar finds this pretty special."

Clement thinks Van der Poel approached the final stage primarily with the upcoming World Championships in mind. “He said he didn’t have the best legs. I think he said this morning: ‘This is the last training session I can do. After this, I have to recover, get on the plane, and process it all in that road race, so today is my last chance. I’m going to make sure I push my body to the limit.”'