“An extra teammate in the final can change a lot, but I didn't have one" - Mathieu van der Poel explains what went wrong at Dutch National Championships

Mathieu van der Poel had to settle for a third placed finish at this year's Dutch National Championships road race. Speaking afterwards, he explained how a lack of support in the final may have played a part.

“I felt pretty good. I am also coping better with the heat. I am happy with that, but for the rest it was sometimes a frustrating race,” the 28-year-old recapped post-race. “I think I did everything right. I can keep responding to everything, but at some point you have to start gambling and thinking about winning. I did everything right for that."

Dylan van Baarle was the eventual winner with van der Poel coming home some 39 seconds later in third place. "Dylan is a very nice champion and you can only say that they did well at Jumbo-Visma. I have nothing to argue with that,” praises van der Poel after van Baarle's teammate Olav Kooij came second in a one-two finish.

“I've raced with Dylan a lot and you know that – if he leaves at a time like that – it will be very difficult to bring him back. I made another attempt to get him back, but the best was gone then," van der Poel continues. “An extra teammate in the final can change a lot, but I didn't have one. Then you have to solve a lot yourself and at a certain point it stops. I already knew in advance that it is one of the most difficult races to win, but I did have a nice race day. I am now going to rest a bit before the Tour.”