The past 37 editions of the elite men's road race at the UCI Road World Championships have brought silver and bronze medals for the Netherlands. Since Joop Zoetemelk's win in 1985, Dylan van Baarle, Steven Rooks, and Léon van Bon have all stood on the final podium next to the rainbow jersey wearer.
But none of them, nor the multitude of stars and talented male riders the Dutch have sent to the Worlds over the years, had managed to take the rainbow jersey before Mathieu van der Poel's solo ride in Glasgow on Sunday.
