‘Woah, woah, woah!’ – Mathieu van der Poel almost crashes on descent in heart-in-mouth moment at Giro d’Italia

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) had a heart-in-mouth moment on a winding descent on Stage 17 at the Giro d’Italia. The Dutchman was being put under pressure by compatriot Gijs Leemreize (Jumbo-Visma) as the pair roared clear on the steep descent on Passo del Vetriolo. Ad/> As the road swung to the left, Van der Poel lost traction on his rear wheel, skidded and had to style out a tight corner – almost coming a cropper into the barriers.

Giro d'ItaliaOpinion: Alpecin-Fenix get tactics spot on as Van der Poel turns provider in Stage 1219/05/2022 AT 17:50 “Woah, woah, woah,” said Sean Kelly on Eurosport commentary as Van der Poel veered dangerously close to the roadside barrier. Leemreize also misjudged the corner ahead of Van der Poel, perhaps explaining why the Stage 1 winner carried so much speed into the turn. “Van der Poel styles that one out, but a rare mistake in the bike handling from him.

He is human!” said Rob Hatch alongside Kelly. Van der Poel eventually cracked on the final Cat. 1 climb after another brilliant day out front – branded a “fantasy cycling effort” by Hatch.

“It’s just a lost of traction in the back wheel,” added Robbie McEwen on his scary moment. “He looked to have it well under control, just that back wheel let go and a little skid that put him off balance. A cyclo-crosser like Van der Poel, a skid like that? Just a blip on the radar.” /> — — - Stream the Giro d'Italia live and on-demand on discovery+.