Adri van der Poel[1][2] (born 17 June 1959) is a retired Dutchcyclist. Van der Poel was a professional from 1981 to 2000. His biggest wins included six classics, two stages of theTour 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 behindGreg LeMond and five second places in the World Cyclo-Cross championships.[3] TheGrand Prix Adrie van der Poel is named after him.
Van der Poel began his career on the road and during his first season as a professional he obtained second place inParis–Nice behindStephen Roche and second place in theLa Flèche Wallonne. In the Tour de France, he won two stages; his stage win in 1988 set the record for fastest stage (since then only surpassed by three cyclists).[4] Van der Poel also competed in cyclo-cross during the winter and obtained great results – that he turned full-time to cyclo-cross in the latter part of his career where he won the World Championships in 1996 and the World Cup and Superprestige classifications in 1997. Van der Poel retired after the 2000 Cyclo-Cross World Championships where he finished fourth and which was won by his teammateRichard Groenendaal.
In 1983 he tested positive forstrychnine. He said that his father-in-law had served apigeon pie for Sunday lunch, and only when he tested positive did he realise that the pigeons had been doped with strychnine.[5][6][7]
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