Mathieu van der Poel excelled throughout the winter in his return to cyclocross, achieving a record-tying 7th Rainbow Jersey victory in Lievin. Following a brief break and some well-earned skiing, the moment for the Alpecin-Deceuninck leader to get back to road racing is nearly upon us.
It appears that Van der Poel will begin his road season in Italy at Tirreno-Adriatico from March 10 to 16. This will be the fourth occasion in his career that Van der Poel has competed in the Italian stage race. From that point, the Dutchman commences his Classics campaign, starting with Milano-Sanremo (March 22nd), a monument that Van der Poel assisted teammate Jasper Philipsen in winning in 2024, before the former world champion heads to Belgium to compete in the E2 Saxo Classic (March 28th) and the Tour of Flanders (April 6th), where he aims to become the first rider ever to achieve victory in the Belgian monument on four different occasions.
Ultimately, Van der Poel makes his way back to France, initially at Paris-Roubaix on April 13th, prior to kicking off another Tour de France effort on July 5th. Van der Poel has triumphed on the legendary cobbles of Paris-Roubaix for the past two years, yet he has disappointed at the Tour de France. With no World Championship participation in Rwanda now officially established, might this be the year that the Dutch talent exhibits his finest performance at the most viewed cycling event on Earth?
“I will begin in Tirreno-Adriatico as it serves as the perfect preparation for Milano-Sanremo.” What happens next? Identical to previous years. I won’t be attending the World Championships. I will cycle the Tour once more. “There are several chances for me in the initial week,” Van der Poel states during his press conference. “Do I wish to be the inaugural rider to triumph in the Tour of Flanders four times?” It’s similar to the Cyclocross World Championships: my focus is more on the competition than on the achievement. Gent-Wevelgem is certainly not happening this year. De beslissing over Dwars door Vlaanderen zal ook later vallen. “I would prefer to triumph in the Tour four times instead of winning Gent-Wevelgem for the very first time.”
