After Dauphiné green jersey stint, can Mathieu van der Poel do it again at the Tour? "I think it's a goal for him"

Mathieu van der Poel can certainly target to have an episode in the leader's yellow jersey at the upcoming Tour de France with Grande Boucle taking off with a couple easier stages in the Northern France. But his eyes might be set on the Green jersey for the best rider in Points Classification - if only he wasn't bound by team tasks and leading out Jasper Philipsen in bunch sprints.

In the Eurosport podcast Kop over Kop, analysts weigh the Dutchman's 'green' chances in the Tour de France. "He rode the stones out of the street," says Jan Hermsen about Van der Poel's Dauphiné. "I don't know what Philipsen's ambitions are? That will definitely be for stages, but will he also go for the green?"

Hermsen thinks that the green for Van der Poel can go together with Philipsen's ambitions. "Bobbie (Traksel, ed.) said that in the broadcast: Van der Poel can pull the sprint for Philipsen, sprint through and then finish tenth. Or fifth or sixth. I think it's a goal for him that has suddenly appeared. I'm curious how they're going to manage that within Alpecin-Deceuninck."

Jeroen Vanbelleghem is not on the same board, noting that it's not as easy to "just" sprint to the line after having done his job as a leadout. "He simply cannot win green if he does not sprint in a flat stage. And I think it is easier said than done to sprint further after a lead-out and finish fifth."

There's a counter-point that Van der Poel's cyclocross arch-rival Wout van Aert also managed to win green while doing domestique work in 2022. But the big difference is that the Belgian still had a freedom in sprints - something Van der Poel can't expect to get. "Van Aert also won bunch sprints," says Vanbelleghem. "Van der Poel will definitely win a stage, but winning green? I don't know. If you go for the sprints with Philipsen, you can't win green."

The explosive start to the Tour seems tailormade for Van der Poel with multiple stages suited to the Dutchman's taste. In particular second, fourth, sixth and seventh stages are really good opportunities. If he can ride time trial at the same level as last week at Dauphiné, the points could accumulate rather quickly. Of course, Tadej Pogacar will be there to score as well...