Mathieu van der Poel fined after bare chested Tour de Suisse hot seat appearance

Mathieu van der Poel experienced two very different forms of disappointment after the stage 4 time trial at the Tour de Suisse.

First, the Dutchman saw an exceptional ride fall just short of victory when Tadej Pogačar crossed the line marginally faster. Later, Van der Poel learned that his attempt to cool down while waiting for the result had earned him a fine from the race jury.

The Alpecin-Premier Tech rider was ordered to pay 500 Swiss francs after sitting bare chested in the hot seat with the upper half of his skinsuit rolled down.

Race officials listed the offence as “inappropriate attire while on the hot seat” in their post race communiqué.

Van der Poel was the 74th rider to begin the flat 23.7 kilometre course in Aarburg. He stopped the clock at 26 minutes and 38 seconds, setting a standard that survived repeated challenges from several recognised time trial specialists.

With more than 50 riders still to finish, he took his place in the hot seat near the line.

Conditions offered little relief. Temperatures were reported at 33 degrees. After completing his effort, Van der Poel pulled the top of his skinsuit down to his waist and watched the remainder of the race with his chest and shoulders exposed.

The television cameras regularly returned to him as rider after rider failed to improve his time.

Only Pogačar remained capable of taking the victory. Wearing the race leader’s jersey and starting last, the Slovenian finally pushed Van der Poel out of first place by the narrowest of margins (0,04 seconds).

As Pogačar’s time was confirmed, Van der Poel dropped his head and reacted with a mix of frustration, disbelief and admiration at seeing the stage slip away.

It would have been the first individual time trial victory of Van der Poel’s professional road career.