Van der Poel narrowly avoids crash during impromptu sprint with amateur rider in Spain
French amateur cyclist Anatole Leboucher got more than he bargained for when he challenged world champion Mathieu van der Poel to a sprint during a training ride in Spain, with the Dutch star nearly crashing after his chain slipped.
Leboucher initially hesitated to approach Van der Poel and Julian Alaphilippe when he encountered the two world champions, but eventually mustered the courage. "I wanted to overtake them at first, but when I reached them, I decided to ask Van der Poel if he wanted to do a few sprints," Leboucher told DirectVélo, recounting his memorable cycling afternoon.
The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider accepted the challenge with enthusiasm. "I clearly told Mathieu that he should give 100 percent, that there was no point in pretending, and he was clearly motivated," said Leboucher, who was seeking sprint practice ahead of a race against top sprinter Paul Magnier.
Another French amateur rider, Léo David, captured the encounter on video. The first attempt didn't go according to plan, with Van der Poel's chain slipping immediately, causing laughter among the group.
When they tried again, the situation became more precarious. As Van der Poel accelerated, he lost control of his bike but miraculously managed to avoid crashing. "I didn't really understand what he was doing exactly," Leboucher explained. "There wasn't a third attempt, but we watched the video back and he [Van der Poel] could still laugh about it."
The video quickly spread across social media platforms and went viral. "Accounts with millions of followers decided to share the video and articles have been written about it. I've even been called by Belgian journalists for details," Leboucher said.
The French amateur expressed relief that the incident ended without serious consequences. "I would have felt terrible if he had fallen and disrupted his future cyclocross goals. It wouldn't have been directly my fault, but I was the one who suggested sprinting to him."
Mathieu van der Poel is set to begin his winter cyclocross schedule on December 14th at the UCI World Cup event in Namur, Belgium, as he sets sights on claiming a record eight elite cyclocross World Championships come February 1, 2026.
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