Mathieu van der Poel launches monster 174km solo in final Worlds test at Tour de Luxembourg

The Alpecin-Premier Tech rider accelerated on the first uncategorised climb of the day, with 174 kilometres still to go, and soon found himself alone at the front.

Six riders set off in pursuit, but Van der Poel continued to build his advantage. With 50 kilometres remaining, he held an advantage of more than three minutes over the chasing group, while the peloton was already over four minutes behind.

It is the latest hard effort in a week Van der Poel has primarily used to sharpen up for Montréal.

He won the opening stage after attacking on the final major climb. That move was brought back, but Van der Poel recovered quickly enough to beat Pierre Gautherat and Marijn van den Berg in the uphill sprint.

The Dutchman was much less visible later in the race. He lost more than seven minutes on stage 3 and also appeared to take Saturday’s time trial relatively easy, leaving him 9:45 down on race leader Davide Piganzoli ahead of the final stage.

Van der Poel had already said that results in Luxembourg were not his only concern. After focusing heavily on endurance work in training, he wanted the race to provide the harder efforts that are difficult to replicate away from competition.

“I am going to need the intensity,” he said earlier this week. “I have focused heavily on endurance training, so here I am really looking for those intensive efforts.”

A 174 kilometre attack is certainly one way of finding them.

Van der Poel remains cautious about his chances in Montréal, where a demanding course appears to suit the stronger climbers.

“I think the race is just a little too difficult for me,” he said before the start of the Tour de Luxembourg.

He has nevertheless made specific adjustments for the Worlds. Van der Poel said he is around two kilograms lighter than he was in the spring, something he feels makes a noticeable difference on the climbs.

And despite playing down his chances, he has not completely written himself out of the picture.

“You never know at a championship,” Van der Poel said. “They can be unusual races.”