Mathieu Van Der Pol struggled at the UCI Cyclocross World Cup in Tabor on Saturday, burdened by grief over the death of his grandfather Raymond Poulidor and the handicap of starting on the third row due to his UCI ranking. But the world champion overcame his grief and fought through an hour of racing with a slower-than-normal start to catch up with the lead group and hold off Belgium's Eli Yzerbito on the final lap for the win.

"This has been a heavy and emotional week for us. So this victory is very special," Van der Pol said tearfully, according to De Telegraaf. 'It was hard, mentally and physically. I wanted to win here for my grandfather and Tabor is a special place for me."

Poulidor, a cycling legend who stood on the Tour de France podium eight times, died early Wednesday morning at the age of 83. Mathieu Van der Poel's parents were Poulidor's daughter, Corinne, and famed racer Adrie Van der Poel. The Frenchman was very proud of his grandson and said that Mathieu was more talented than his father than he was.

Poulidor was hospitalized in early October due to exhaustion and his condition continued to deteriorate. We had known for some time that he was deteriorating, so we were prepared for that. But that doesn't make it any less difficult," Van der Pol said.

Van der Pol competed in his first World Cup race of the season after taking a break to rest from the strain of the road season. After missing the first three rounds in Iowa, Waterloo, and Bern, he was forced to start from the third row of the 25-rider field, despite being the world champion. Late in the race, he caught up to World Cup leader Eli Iserbitt's group, fended off several attacks from Iserbitt and fellow Dutchman Lars van der Haar, and closed the distance on the final lap.

"It was hard to find a rhythm, but I waited until the last lap. The competition didn't give me any gifts and put constant pressure on me."

Earlier this week, Van der Pol announced his plans for the 2020 road season. The Amstel Gold Race (the World Tour race that confirmed he was a force to be reckoned with in the spring classics) was conspicuously absent from the program, which begins with Stradé Bianche and ends with Paris-Roubaix, where he will concentrate on Olympic preparations for cross-country mountain biking.

In an interview with Helden, Adrie van der Pol admitted that her son would not defend his Amstel Gold title.

"Next season, Mathieu will approach the competition differently than he did this year. After Paris-Roubaix, he will no longer run classics. So there will be no Amstel Gold Race," said Adrie van der Pol.

Michel Cornelisse, director of Corendon Circus, Mathieu Van der Pol's company, added that he would support Van der Pol mixing cross and road races in the future. Cycling should not become a routine for Mathieu."

"I am also 100% convinced that Mathieu can grow even more with us. I am now getting emails from talented riders who want to race for Mathieu. It's also about being more ambitious as a team. Corendon Circus started as a continental team and is now a professional continental team."