Flying Dutchman Van der Poel wins world road title

GLASGOW :Mathieu van der Poel became the first Dutch world road race champion for nearly 40 years with a masterful ride around the rain-drenched streets of Glasgow on Sunday.

The 28-year-old attacked from a small lead group on the penultimate circuit of the twisty, 14.3-km city course, leaving rivals Tadej Pogacar, Wout van Aert and Mads Pedersen trailing.

Van der Poel then stepped on the pedals to pull away but had a heart-in-the-mouth moment when he crashed on a greasy corner that left him with a ripped shirt and damaged shoe.

He calmly remounted and managed to extend his lead to more than a minute in front of huge crowds, many in Dutch colours.

Avoiding any more scares on the final lap, he weaved his way through the 43 tight corners and raised his arms aloft, looking to the skies as he crossed the line in George Square.

The five-time cyclocross world champion is the first Dutchman to win the rainbow jersey on the road since Joop Zoetemelk in 1985.

Belgium's Van Aert had to settle for a fourth world silver medal on the road with Slovenia's two-time Tour de France winner Pogacar outsprinting Pedersen for bronze.

Van der Poel, whose father was a world champion cyclist and whose grandfather Raymond Poulidor won the Vuelta a Espana, is a sporting superstar in the Netherlands but his ride in Glasgow addresses one gap on his glittering palmares.

"Maybe this completes my career, it's maybe the biggest victory on the road and I cannot imagine riding in the rainbows for a year," Van der Poel said.

"When I went away, I didn't expect to have a gap but then when I saw nobody was following it gave me wings and I was just flying around the course. Until the crash.

"For a moment I thought it was over."

The 271-km race, which started in