Adri van der Poel
Adri van der Poel is a retired Dutch cyclist. Van der Poel was a professional from 1981 to 2000. His biggest wins included six classics, two stages of the Tour de France and the World Cyclo-Cross Championships in 1996. He also obtained the second place and silver medal in the World Road Championships in 1983 behind Greg LeMond and five second places in the World Cyclo-Cross championships. The Grand Prix Adrie van der Poel is named after him.
Career
Van der Poel began his career on the road and during his first season as a professional he obtained second place overall at Paris–Nice behind Stephen Roche and at one-day race La Flèche Wallonne. In the Tour de France, he won two stages; his stage win in 1988 set the record for fastest stage. Van der Poel also competed in cyclo-cross during the winter and obtained great results – he turned to cyclo-cross full time in the latter part of his career, winning the World Championships in 1996, and the World Cup and Superprestige classifications in 1997. He retired aged 40 after the inaugural edition of the Grand Prix Adrie Van der Poel in 2000, organised to commemorate him in his home village of Hoogerheide. Van der Poel finished third in his own race, which was won by his teammate Richard Groenendaal, and it's been a tentpole of the calendar ever since.In 1983 he tested positive for strychnine. He said that his father-in-law had served a pigeon pie for Sunday lunch, and only when he tested positive did he realise that the pigeons had been doped with strychnine.
Family
Van der Poel is the son-in-law of the famous French cyclist Raymond Poulidor. His sons David and Mathieu are also cyclists. Mathieu van der Poel became cyclo-cross world champion himself in the junior race in 2012 and 2013 and then matching his father's title in 2015, and exceeding his father, winning titles in 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025. Mathieu is prolific also in professional road cycling, having won the UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race in 2023, along with the wins at Tour of Flanders in 2020, 2022 and 2024, Strade Bianche in 2021, Milan-Sanremo in 2023 and 2025, and Paris-Roubaix in 2023, 2024 and 2025.Van der Poel's brother Jacques was also a professional cyclist from 1986 to 1992.
Major results
Cyclo-cross
;1983–1984;1984–1985
;1986–1987
;1987–1988
;1988–1989
;1989–1990
;1990–1991
;1991–1992
;1992–1993
;1993–1994
;1994–1995
;1995–1996
;1996–1997
;1997–1998
;1998–1999
;1999–2000
Road
;1980;1981
;1982
;1983
;1984
;1985
;1986
;1987
;1988
;1989
;1990
;1991
;1992
;1993
;1994
;1995
;1996
;1997
;1998
;1999
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
| Grand Tour | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
| / Vuelta a España | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 71 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Giro d'Italia | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 100 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Tour de France | — | 102 | 37 | DNF | 51 | 110 | 105 | 84 | DNF | 111 | — | DNF | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Major championship results timeline
| — | Did not compete |
| DNF | Did not finish |