Irish cyclists meet Mathieu van der Poel training in Dubai | Sticky Bottle

*Steven Conroy of Lucan CRC half-wheels Mathieu van der Poel while offering him a few racing and training tips during their ride in Dubai*

Irish riders based in Dubai got a lot more than they bargained for during their training ride today when they bumped into Mathieu van der Poel and joined him for his ride.

The Dutch champion and Tour of
Flanders 2020 winner has also reached out to the lads on social media after
meeting them and organised to go out with them again in coming days.

Sean McFadden, a Donegal cyclist and triathlon coach now based in Dubai, said he was out in a group of about 20 riders initially, with some of them later meeting van der Poel.

“It was an epic morning,” he said of
meeting van der Poel at a coffee stop about halfway through his planned 150km
ride on the Al Qudra cycling route.

“It came down to about five of us, Steven Conroy from Lucan CRC in Dublin was with me as well; it was his first day out with us, so he got lucky!

“As we were cycling around the track we saw this guy coming and he passed us and Steven said to me ‘that’s Mathieu van der Poel’. When we checked the coffee shop a little later, there he was.”

*Sean McFadden with Mathieu van der Poel in Dubai earlier today; the Irish cyclist saying the Dutch champion was really open and friendly and joined them for over an hour on the bike*

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McFadden said he couldn’t pass up
the chance and so approached van der Poel, who was very friendly and chatted
away before joining the riders when they got going again on their ride.

“We were chatting, we took a few photos but we kept it quiet enough and then he said he was cycling home and did we want to go with him on the bike, so we did. He was going about 50km away and we rode with him for most of that.

“He’s going out again tomorrow so he’s
tagged me on social media to see if we want to go with him. It was fantastic,
something you’ll always remember, to meet a guy like that and he’s so open and
friendly.

“It’s great to experience something like that when you’re far from home and a lot of lads back home have been sending me messages when they saw the photos; it was great.”

McFadden, who raced in Ireland and rode Rás Tailteann as a masters rider, has been living in Dubai with his wife Irene and two boys, Ruairi and David. He is working as a triathlon coach with ‘My Sports Academy Dubai’.

“It’s been a great move for us so
far and if things stay the same at home (with Covid-19) we will probably do a
fourth year here,” he said.