"Everything is going according to plan" - Mathieu van der Poel looking for win opportunity at Tirreno-Adriatico

For some, Mathieu van der Poel's start to the season at Strade Bianche was disappointing. Not for the new Cyclocoss World Champion however, who states that everything is going according to plan at Tirreno-Adriatico.

“It's another sprint ride for Jasper today, so we're going for that again," van der Poel told Sporza this morning. "I feel pretty good. We knew that there was only a short preparation period after the Cyclo-cross World Cup, we had factored that in. I know that I still need a few races to improve, so we will now take them with an eye on the classics.”

Two weeks of rest after his win in Hoogerheide were enough to recover from a sharp winter of racing, and he has then returned to work for the road season. He's used an altitude tent to replicate the conditions that other riders have trained on throughout February in preparation for the classics, and he's showing decent form as he resumes racing in March. “We also did an altitude training [camp], it takes time to let it sink in. Everything is going according to plan.”

He raced to 14th at the opening time-trial, and has helped Jasper Philipsen to second place on the opening sprint. He's building form at the Italian race, but he will also eye opportunities for himself. “Of course everyone wants to win a stage in Tirreno-Adriatico. We will see how I feel on a day-by-day basis and hopefully I can pick a day out," he says.

Sage 6 to Osimo, very similar to that that he won back in 2021, may be a day for him. There will be two days where the puncheurs have decent chances of fighting for the win, as well as the final day where the start of the stage is very hard. This will be the final preparation race for Milano-Sanremo for van der Poel, but his big goals lay further ahead as he tries to defend his Tour des Flandres title, and then move onto Paris-Roubaix where he's yet to win.

“I want to gain race hardness here and maybe mix myself up for a day or two. But that's not really a must. It depends on how I feel. We look at it day by day. The main goals are yet to come. I certainly don't feel bad. I hope I get better and better," he concluded.