Mathieu van der Poel on wild attacks, 2023 Tour de France hopes and Wout van Aert rivalry

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) is hoping a reduced schedule will see him win again at the Tour de France later this year.

The Dutchman wore the yellow jersey for six stages at the 2021 Tour after claiming the second stage, but he failed to add to his haul in 2022 after arriving overcooked following an explosive Giro d’Italia debut.

Van der Poel grabbed the maglia rosa after winning the opening stage at the Giro before lighting up the race with a series of madcap one-man attacks, which were exciting for punters, but failed to yield any more victories.

Undeterred, Van der Poel headed to the Tour one month later, but quickly faded as a force as arch-rival Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) grabbed the headlines with his stunning role as super-domestique in Jonas Vingegaard’s GC triumph.

“For sure we try to make it a bit easier than last year, of course, because there’s only one Grand Tour which already makes a big difference,” said Van der Poel.

“So it will be a bit the same on the road as I did two years ago with the Italian races. And then I had the Classics in Belgium and then I will go from Tour de Suisse to the Tour de France.

“For me, the main objective is also to try and pick out my stages that I try to win and get to Paris.”

On his cavalier approach to racing, he continued: “Even when I don’t have the legs, I try to race and to make it fun. Sometimes you just don’t have the shape to do it, but I always try it.

“I’m quite okay with being beaten when I’m not the strongest. That’s something I’ve learned in the past years when I competed and of course, it makes it a bit easier when you’ve won already a lot of beautiful races.

“If it was your chance to win your first race there, then for sure it would be a different story. But for me I just try to be respectful against the other riders and try to beat them the next day.”

Despite their flurry of showdowns, Van der Poel, 28, insists he is not wrapped up in their rivalry.

“It’s something I don’t really think about anymore because it’s been going on for so long it feels natural to be with him at the front of a race,” he said.

“You have to push your own limits to try and beat him. I mean, if you were to win every race with five minutes, it would be unnecessary to train any more, but now you know you have to be at your top level to try and win the races because the level in general is becoming really high.”

– – –