It goes without saying that cycling has changed significantly compared to the past. This is once again evident from an anecdote by Louis Bovee, a Dutch journalist and author, seasoned in the profession.
Similarities with Mathieu
In the magazine Wielerrevue he reminisces about past encounters with Adrie van der Poel. Following Bovee, he then wrote columns for the magazine he worked for. “We met twice a year in a restaurant in his birthplace Hoogerheide, a stone’s throw from his villa in the Belgian village of Kapellen.”
“I have wonderful memories of those meetings. Adrie told a lot of interesting things and fresh gossip that happened in the peloton, on the condition that I kept it under the radar,” says Bovee, who sees great similarities in Adrie with his son Mathieu.
“Both their characters are characterized by a certain stubbornness. Adrie, a farmer’s son, is a quiet man – not a talker. A smart guy who never shows the back of his tongue. Neither does Mathieu.”
But he does see a significant difference, and immediately makes an interesting revelation. “The most important difference: Mathieu always wants to win everything, his father sometimes let a competitor take first place in exchange for a bag of money,” says Bovee. “That would be a credit to Mathieu.”
Lost football player
By the way, father Adrie apparently never thought that Mathieu would become a cyclist, but he would become a (professional) footballer. “Our Matje is a fanatic. He takes the ball to his bedroom,” he once told Bovee. “One day he called unexpectedly. ‘Matje has stopped playing football. Now cycling is his passion,’ he said.”
