"He is one level stronger than everyone else" - Dwars door het Hageland organiser compliments Mathieu van der Poel

Dwars door het Hageland organiser Nick Nuyens is one happy man, because the Belgian race has one of the its best startlists. Ever. The biggest name being Paris-Roubaix champion Mathieu van der Poel who returns to racing after successful spring to fine-tune his pre-Tour form.

Yves Lampaert, Sep Vanmarcke, Alexander Kristoff, Giacomo Nizzolo... Nuyens calls it "a lot of quality" in conversation with Rob TV. " But van der Poel is of course exceptional. We are very, very happy with that. It is a race that suits him and that he likes to ride. He already won once in 2017 and the off-road sections ensure that he is the top favourite."

Nuyens is convinced that the race will be different with van der Poel at the start. "He is one level stronger than everyone else, we saw that in the spring. I wouldn't sit on van der Poel's wheel - that might not be the best idea. It might be better to anticipate, but Alpecin-Deceuninck has a very strong team around van der Poel, so they will have to control the race."

'It is a very challenging race," emphasizes Nuyens. "It's a good chance to get the heart racing in preparation for the Tour." Nuyens also has nothing to complain about for the women version, with Lotte Kopecky and Lorena Wiebes, among others, riding for SD Worx.