'That was not the plan' - Mathieu Van der Poel flies to 174km solo victory in final World Championships tune-up

Former rainbow jersey Mathieu van der Poel revealed his fine form ahead of another tilt at the world title with a sensational long solo breakaway on the final stage of the Tour of Luxembourg.

The 2023 world road race champion was fine-tuning his fitness with his Alpecin-Deceuninck team at the late-season stage race, taking a different preparation route from many of his rivals, many of whom raced the Canadian WorldTour doubleheader last week.

Keen to wring every last drop of hard work out of the race and well down the General Classification, Van der Poel went on the attack on the 177km stage five on Sunday, finding himself up the road by himself in the opening kilometres.

The peloton chased on an undulating day finishing in Limpertsberg, with various pursuing groups forming. However, none could catch Van der Poel, who won by more than a minute ahead of Mikkel Honore (EF Education First-EasyPost).

Visma-Lease a Bike’s Davide Piganzoli won the overall title after claiming the stage four time-trial.

Van der Poel, who also won the opening stage in an uphill sprint, was clear of the bunch for 174km by himself. It’s one of the longest successful solo breakaways in the history of professional cycling.

“That was not the plan before the start,” Van der Poel said afterwards. “I found myself alone from the start of the race in fact, and I just rode my tempo the whole day.”

“At first I thought the chasers would catch up to me, but I just continued to ride at my power and the gap grew out again. At that point I decided to just go all-out until the finish,” he explained.

Next, Van der Poel will travel to Montréal with his eyes set on the World Championships road race on Sunday.

On a tough course with climbs longer than would usually suit him, the Dutch leader is playing down his chances. However, Van der Poel believes that tactics could come into play with smaller squad sizes and communication challenges at play at the Worlds.

“I think the course is just a little too hard for me,” Van der Poel told NOS earlier in the week.

“It will definitely be on the hard side, but you never know in a championship…A World Championship can sometimes become an atypical race. You’re racing with national teams, there’s no radio communication.”

“It’s not like other races, which are easier to predict.”

Van der Poel has won the road world title once before in his career, at the 2023 Worlds in Glasgow.

The World Championships elite men’s road race will take place on Sunday, 27 September in Montréal.