Mathieu van der Poel is doubting his chances of defending the UCI Road World Championships men’s road race title in Zurich.

Mads Pedersen went on the attack several times with Mathieu van der Poel and other adventurers during the European Championships but could not break the grip of Italy and Belgium on the race and so stop the race ending in a sprint.

The European Road Cycling Championships will take place in Limburg on Sunday, with the 222-kilometre route demanding but open to strong riders with

Mathieu van der Poel made repeated attempts to bend the European Championships road race to his will on Sunday, but the Dutchman’s aggression was eventually snuffed out with 25km to go and the race ended in a bunch sprint.

Mathieu van der Poel, along with Mads Pedersen, was a major force at the European Cycling Championship in Belgian Limburg. However, the Dutchman’s aggressive approach did not pay off in Hasselt. His final attempt fell short with twenty kilometers to go,