Van der Poel uses Vicente del Bosque to respond to Pogacar after his defeat

The time trial of the Tour of Switzerland held yesterday left one of the most talked-about images of the season. Mathieu van der Poel was close to achieving the first victory of his professional career in a time trial, but Tadej Pogacar ended up snatching the win from him by an almost unimaginable margin: just 31 hundredths of a second.

Van der Poel found in Vicente del Bosque the best way to explain how he felt after losing to Pogacar by 31 hundredths

The cameras perfectly captured the moment. Sitting in the provisional leader's seat, Van der Poel followed the Slovenian's times live and went from hope to resignation as Pogacar approached the finish line. A reaction as spontaneous as it was expressive that quickly went viral among fans.

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Tadej Pogačar (@tadejpogacar)

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That wait even cost him a sanction. The UCI subsequently imposed a fine of 500 Swiss francs for remaining shirtless during the official broadcast while following the outcome of the stage.

Hours later, already at night, Pogacar posted a message on Instagram to explain that that victory had a special meaning for him. The leader of the UAE Team Emirates-XRG revealed that throughout the time trial he was thinking about Urška Žigart, his partner, who this week suffered a severe fall in the women's Tour of Switzerland and fractured her jaw.

The post received hundreds of comments, including one from Van der Poel himself. And it was precisely that response that has once again caught the attention of fans.

The Dutchman did not write any text. He also did not resort to emojis or a conventional congratulation. Instead, he responded with an image of Vicente del Bosque, specifically one of those snapshots that have been used as a meme on the internet for years to represent a mix of frustration, resignation, and disbelief.

After all, few expressions could better summarize what happened a few hours earlier in the Tour of Switzerland. Van der Poel had delivered one of the best time trials of his career, had occupied the provisional first place for a good part of the afternoon, and had been just 31 hundredths away from celebrating a victory that seemed possible until the last meters of the course.

Because if there is one thing that the fourth stage of the Tour of Switzerland made clear, it is that losing always hurts, but losing by just three tenths of a second hurts a little more. And to explain it, Van der Poel found an unexpected ally in one of the most recognizable faces in Spanish sports.