Having successfully taken his first career Paris-Roubaix win last Sunday, his second monument victory of the season following Milano-Sanremo, Mathieu van der Poel is in the form of his life. According to father Adrie van der Poel however he can still improve even further.
"Mathieu's spring has been truly exceptional," a proud Adrie exclaims in conversation with Wielerflits. "Myself and his team have never pushed him. We always let him do his thing. We've been very careful with him. Maybe that will come out now. He also has great confidence in a number of people around him. That also makes you strong.”
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Despite the impressiveness of his recent form, Adrie is confident that there is still more to come from his son in the coming years. “He's getting a little better every year. The environment he lives and works with is very relaxed. If things go a little less, then the whole team is behind him. That has been proven in the past," he explains. "If you see the team in Paris-Roubaix; first and second. That's fantastic. Then it makes sense that everyone is happy. We must also honestly say that everything went well."
“Of course he won't improve any more percentages, but once he can finish a decent Tour, he can become about 1.5% stronger," Adrie says which must surely send shivers down the spines of all the Alpecin-Deceuninck star's rivals. "What Mathieu is showing now, he couldn't do that two years ago. Then he also rode Wout van Aert and Kasper Asgreen out of the wheel in Paris-Roubaix. At the time, he couldn't keep that up to the end. Now he does. That's because he's gotten stronger."
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