Mathieu van der Poel's protest poo - and four other famous toilet stops in cycling history

The new men's world champion apparently stopped off in a Scottish house to take a break on Sunday, but he was not the first to feel an urgency mid-race

Van der Poel after winning the Worlds
Mathieu Van Der Poel recovers after the UCI Cycling World Championships men's race
(Image credit: Getty)

Forget his broken shoe, forget his 22.3km solo attack to win the Netherlands' first men's World Championship road race title, one of the most intriguing stories of the men's World Championships is that Mathieu van der Poel credited his win to a couple who ushered him into their home for a toilet break during the 271km race on Sunday.

While the event was paused for 51 minutes - with 192km to go, thanks to a protest - Van der Poel, along with some other riders, went to the toilet in a nearby house. The Dutchman was the only one who went on to win the rainbow jersey, however, so the Scottish couple who own the bathroom in question have an odd connection to his victory.

Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Adam Becket
News editor

Adam is Cycling Weekly’s news editor – his greatest love is road racing but as long as he is cycling, he's happy. Before joining CW he spent two years writing for Procycling. He's usually out and about on the roads of Bristol and its surrounds.

Before cycling took over his professional life, he covered ecclesiastical matters at the world’s largest Anglican newspaper and politics at Business Insider. Don't ask how that is related to cycling.