On Saturday, the 2024 Tour de France will start in Florence, the heart of Tuscany. It’s not a city where events like the Giro d’Italia frequently finish, but it is known for hosting unique races: before this Tour start, the 2013 Road Racing World Championships were another significant event that was held there.
The winner of the Junior World Championships at the time: Mathieu van der Poel. The Dutchman went to the World Championships with doubts due to an injury, but after 140 kilometers of racing, he finished it off beautifully by breaking away solo from the peloton. There, a certain Mads Pedersen – whom we also know well – won the sprint and took the silver.
Footage of that race is unfortunately scarce, but the interview Van der Poel gave afterwards to Omroep Brabant is worth watching. “I couldn’t have dared to dream this. I didn’t feel great, but I knew I had to push myself to the limit. It was very special to win such a World Championship on the road, but I was completely exhausted.”
Continue reading below the video.
Before the Tour de France, Van der Poel – again as a world champion – briefly reflected on that world title at his press conference. “That was a long time ago, but it’s nice to be back here where you won something so special. It’s a beautiful city to start the Tour,” he said ahead of the Tour de France, where he is chasing stage success.
We also had a great World Championship among the elite men at the time, won by Rui Costa. The Portuguese rider is still present at the Tour de France eleven (!) years later, representing EF Education-EasyPost in the transitional stages. Back then, he beat Spaniards Joaquim Rodriguez and Alejandro Valverde, who didn’t entirely favor each other.