Colombian cycling star Nairo Quintana has sparked debate across the sport after declaring Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel \u201cthe strongest rider in cycling history,\u201d adding that even at his own peak, he would have fallen \u201ctwo steps below\u201d the all-round brilliance of the Alpecin-Deceuninck leader.<\/p>\n
Quintana, a former Grand Tour winner renowned for his climbing prowess, made the comments during a recent interview reflecting on the evolution of modern cycling. The 35-year-old pointed to van der Poel\u2019s rare versatility\u2014his ability to dominate across classics, cyclocross, and stage races\u2014as something the sport has never quite seen before.<\/p>\n
\u201cCycling has changed,\u201d Quintana said. \u201cRiders today are more complete, but Mathieu is something different. He combines power, endurance, and technique at a level that is extraordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n
Van der Poel, already a multiple Monument winner and world champion across disciplines, has built a reputation for explosive performances and tactical intelligence. His aggressive racing style and capacity to perform on varying terrains\u2014from cobbled classics to punchy climbs\u2014have set him apart from both his contemporaries and past legends.<\/p>\n
Quintana\u2019s remarks have drawn mixed reactions within the cycling community. Some analysts agree that van der Poel represents a new archetype of rider, capable of excelling in ways previous generations could not. Others argue that comparing eras remains inherently difficult, given differences in training, technology, and race dynamics.<\/p>\n
Still, Quintana\u2019s admission carries weight, given his own achievements in races like the Giro d\u2019Italia and Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a. His acknowledgment highlights the growing recognition of van der Poel\u2019s impact on the sport.<\/p>\n
As cycling continues to evolve, the debate over the greatest rider in history remains open\u2014but voices like Quintana\u2019s are increasingly placing van der Poel firmly in that conversation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Colombian cycling star Nairo Quintana has sparked debate across the sport after declaring Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel \u201cthe strongest rider in cycling history,\u201d adding that even at his own peak, he would have fallen \u201ctwo steps below\u201d the all-round brilliance of the Alpecin-Deceuninck leader. Quintana, a former Grand Tour winner renowned for his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48104,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[438],"class_list":["post-48103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-dutch"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776276993681.jpg",720,720,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776276993681-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776276993681-300x300.jpg",300,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776276993681.jpg",720,720,false],"large":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776276993681.jpg",720,720,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776276993681.jpg",720,720,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776276993681.jpg",720,720,false],"jnews-360x180":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776276993681-360x180.jpg",360,180,true],"jnews-750x375":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776276993681-720x375.jpg",720,375,true],"jnews-1140x570":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776276993681-720x570.jpg",720,570,true],"jnews-120x86":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776276993681-120x86.jpg",120,86,true],"jnews-350x250":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776276993681-350x250.jpg",350,250,true],"jnews-750x536":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776276993681-720x536.jpg",720,536,true],"jnews-1140x815":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776276993681.jpg",720,720,false],"jnews-360x504":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776276993681-360x504.jpg",360,504,true],"jnews-75x75":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776276993681-75x75.jpg",75,75,true],"jnews-350x350":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776276993681-350x350.jpg",350,350,true],"jnews-featured-750":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776276993681.jpg",720,720,false],"jnews-featured-1140":["https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776276993681.jpg",720,720,false]},"author_info":{"display_name":"Newssoccer","author_link":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/?author=1"},"category_info":"Blog<\/a>","tag_info":"Blog","comment_count":"0","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776276993681.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48103","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48103"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48103\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48105,"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48103\/revisions\/48105"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/48104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48103"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48103"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48103"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}