Several top riders are participating in the Benidorm World Cup, but Lars van der Haar is not among them. The runner-up of the recent Dutch Cyclocross Championship is not withdrawing due to injury or illness, but because he will soon become a father for the second time.
His team manager at Baloise Insurance–Het Poetsbureau Lions, Sven Nys, shared this in the Spanish coastal town with WielerFlits. "There’s absolutely nothing wrong, but Lars is going to be a dad again. He didn’t want to take the risk of being far from home. It’s the most beautiful miracle in the world, and he wants to be there for it. And rightfully so."
For the 34-year-old Van der Haar, this will be his second child. He and his wife Lucy (also known by her maiden name Garner) already have a daughter, Sophia.
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Final weeks
By the way, Van der Haar is currently in his final weeks as a cyclocrosser. In November last year, the experienced rider announced his retirement from the sport. Although Van der Haar made his decision to stop public at that time, he had already been mentally preparing for the end of his career for a while. "I’ve been thinking about it since April 2024. So it was a year and a half ago when the idea first came to me."
There were several reasons behind this. Especially the many long endurance training sessions started to wear on Van der Haar. "But actually, it’s not just those sessions; it's everything around it. To compete at this level, you have to give up an incredible amount. When that eventually becomes a burden, it’s incredibly difficult to keep going. Mentally, you can’t sustain it for that long if you’ve lost the joy."
In the following cyclocross months, he managed to regain the joy in the sport. "When you get good results, it’s always more enjoyable. That’s natural. If I had still been riding around without any perspective, like in the early weeks of the season, it would have been much harder for me. I notice that I’m having much more fun on the bike and in the races. That feels good," he told WielerFlits in December.
