"A rubbish race for Mathieu van der Poel" - Dumoulin understands why Dutch rider made key Tour de France decision

The Dutch National Championships will play out this weekend without one of the biggest names in the sport, and Tom Dumoulin understands exactly why Mathieu van der Poel won't be at the start line in NIjmegen.

Alpecin - Premier Tech's van der Poel is preparing to take on the Tour de France on July 4th after a mixed-bag classics season. With no monument victories, but some impressive results in Tirreno Adriatico, Omloop and E3 Saxo Classic, the former world champion will be hoping to re-light his fire at the Grand Boucle.

And fans in the Netherlands hoping to catch a glimpse of him this weekend will be disappointed as he opted not to ride the championships. With a largely flat course favouring fast men over a classics specialist like van der Poel, Dutch legend Tom Dumoulin understands the decision.

National Championships usually offer an intriguing element to racing, with big-name riders often without their usual team support, the chances of the best on-paper rider winning the race are lower than at a usual race with their trade teams.

"Visma | Lease a Bike is also at the start with I don't know how many riders,' Dumoulin said on NOS Wielerpodcast, noting that Visma's show of strength of the race would also hinder his chances.

"Mathieu usually can't compete against that either. It then becomes a bit of a gamble whether you can win as the best rider in the race."

Dumoulin pointed out that the parcours makes it difficult for him to get a separation for victory: "The course is difficult, but not so difficult that you drop everyone on a single climb."

Despite twice winning the Dutch National Championships road race, Dumoulin sees it as a "rubbish" prospect for him - pointing out that the prospect doesn't entice riders based in other countries or with big Tour de France objectives to compete.

"Let's be honest: the National Championship is, of course, a rubbish race for Mathieu van der Poel."

He added: I feel really sorry for the National Championships, because I always thought it was a fantastic race, and so did many pros, but Mathieu has become such a great rider that he wouldn't come all the way from Spain or Belgium specifically for the National Championships, right before the Tour de France. I can understand that in his case."