“He is certainly ready for Milano-Sanremo” - Mathieu van der Poel’s training partner Freddy Ovett on the Dutchman’s form ahead of the first Monument of the season

Despite not having raced on the road so far in 2024, Mathieu van der Poel still heads into Milano-Sanremo this weekend as one of the pre-race favourites, with the Dutchman being the defending champion of the race after winning last year’s edition solo ahead of Filippo Ganna, Wout van Aert and Tadej Pogačar in the group behind.

With no road racing in his legs going into his first race of the season, it is difficult to gauge where Van der Poel’s form is ahead of Milano-Sanremo. However, he was certainly in form during the recent cyclocross season, as he won 13 out of the 14 races that he did over the winter, including the World Championships in Tábor which he added to his other World title that he won in Glasgow.

If he has been able to carry that form into the Spring, then it will definitely be difficult to stop him, especially given the fact that his rival Wout van Aert is absent from this year’s startlist. That being said, Milano-Sanremo is one of the most unpredictable races on the calendar, with almost anybody able to win the race if they time their attack to perfection and the conditions are in their favour.

In an interview with Sporza ahead of the weekend, Van der Poel’s training partner Freddy Ovett commented on the Dutchman’s form going into Saturday’s race, as he said that “he is certainly ready for Milano-Sanremo. You could already see in cyclocross that he was better than ever and Mathieu has also had a problem-free winter, that is important for him. You know, Mathieu is just very happy at the moment. And when he is happy, he rides fast. I have experienced that personally in recent weeks. I saw that he was getting better every day”.

On Van der Poel’s training over the winter and so far this year, Ovett went on to say that “when we do a long training ride together, he is completely fresh again the next day. Then he increases the pace during the recovery ride. He recovers very quickly from a workout that normally leaves people in bed for two weeks. He was always the rider who pushed the pace. I never saw him in the wheel. Look, Mathieu wants to do more in training than just pedal his values. He also wants to enjoy every training and make every day on the bike memorable”.