Van der Poel favored controversy
While Mathieu van der Poel will be an attraction for the World Championships cross-country mountain bike event, his grid position is a matter of debate.
He will be there. Mathieu van der Poel, who was crowned road world champion last Sunday, has given up the short-track mountain bike race, which was won this Thursday by fellow New Zealander Samuel Gaese (Alpecin), but the Dutchman will be at the start on Saturday. A mountain biking event in the country.
Van der Poel says he has no goal to achieve a resultBut all eyes will be on him. Before the race a small discussion would have stirred up the VTT medium, regarding its placement on the starting grid.
” After some pressure from the big names in the UCI and the media, Van der Poel will start on the fifth row of the mountain bike event. We bend the rules to the stars. But it gives him a much better chance of getting on the podium. They wanted him to start on the front row but the others weren’t happy.”explains Hendrik Lemmer, a Glasgow-based cycling aficionado.
After some pressure from the big boys at the UCI and media van der Poel, they started on the fifth row at xco. The rules of bowing to the stars. But that gives him a much better chance on the podium. They wanted him to start on the front row but the rest weren’t happy #Glasgow 2023 https://t.co/7mG4e4zaoi
—Hendrick Lemmer (@GrootLem) August 10, 2023
On a course where overtaking is difficult, Van der Poel would have had a hard time hoping for something if he had started at the back of the grid. However, another netizen responded to Hendrik Lemmer that Van der Poel’s position could be legitimate, even if he did not participate in any MTB World Cup event this season (it is this ranking that is based on placement for the World Championships).
Thus, the 33rd to 40th place, the fifth row place, will be reserved for riders who are in the top 10 of the UCI ranking for other disciplines. It is a regulation that strengthens bridges between different sports, which could benefit Van der Poel, sixth in the UCI road classification at the moment.
UCI regs seem to have allowance for this, which I think is smart. Or am I reading point B3 below incorrectly? Would he even qualify for his cyclocross ranking, by that criterion? pic.twitter.com/qCSFyE85aj
—Ross Tucker (@Scienceofsport) August 10, 2023
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