"He might start very early" - Is Mathieu van der Poel planning a solo attack at E3 Saxo Classic?
Cycling
After a stunning victory at Milano-Sanremo, Mathieu van der Poel returns to the cobbles today, looking to pick up where he left off last spring. In 2023, he was simply untouchable during the classics, sweeping E3 Saxo Classic, Tour of Flanders, and Paris-Roubaix in a campaign that will be remembered for decades. As he lines up again at E3, the question is clear: can he repeat the feat?
One of the people closest to him, his teammate Xandro Meurisse, offered some insight in an interview with L’Équipe. While the team remains flexible in its approach, there’s no question about who leads the charge.
"Mathieu is our plan A, but in general we have a strong team," Meurisse says. "And then we haven't even talked about what our opponents, such as Wout van Aert, will do."
Van Aert looms large as always, a former winner of all three cobbled monuments himself. Yet, when it comes to van der Poel, unpredictability is one of his most dangerous weapons.
"He will of course try to win, but with him you never know how: he might start very early," Meurisse laughs. "Given the form he showed in Sanremo, he can put in a great performance."
Indeed, van der Poel’s victory at La Primavera was arguably his most impressive yet. Against Tadej Pogacar and Filippo Ganna, he proved he could not only survive the Poggio – he could win from it. That performance only bolstered Meurisse’s admiration.
"He doesn't look at who's at the start of the race, he concentrates on himself. He has nothing left to prove if you look at his track record."
While Van der Poel’s form is well-established, it is Pogacar’s looming debut at Paris-Roubaix that adds another layer of intrigue. Meurisse has taken note of the Slovenian’s reconnaissance rides in Northern France, and what they signify.
"It wasn't just for fun or to test the equipment, otherwise the staff would have sent a rider who lives nearby, not in Monaco. There would have been no point in not taking part in the race after that."
As the cobbled classics unfold, these rivalries promise to ignite once again. For now, Van der Poel seems to have the upper hand. But Meurisse is well aware of the ever-present threat that Pogacar poses, even in the hilly terrain of Milano-Sanremo, the Dutchman had to dig deeper than ever.
"Those guys are on another level, it's crazy how they climbed the Cipressa and Poggio. Mathieu, who doesn't weigh as much as Pogacar, managed to keep up with one of the best climbers in the world. He continues to impress me, even after all the races he's won."
Still, Meurisse insists that the win last weekend has brought van der Poel a sense of calm.
"His victory in Milan-Sanremo has given him peace, but Pogacar remains the best for now. Mathieu already said it, he has to be 110% to stay on Tadej's wheel."
That final sentiment reflects the difference between these two unique riders, and why van der Poel thrives on the cobbles.
"But riding on the cobblestones of a one-day race to win, or a grand tour to not lose time: that is different."
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- would have been nice to hear exactly WHY he thinks pog has zero chance in some greater detail. i mean, tend to agree that his chances aren’t GREAT, but some explanation from the expert with an opinion would be nice. MINE is that, in spite of the recon he did where tadej concluded that the course “wasn’t that hard” i think that doing the full route at full gas is really going to beat up pogacar’s 145lb body, to a degree that he maybe isn’t expecting. but hey, we’ll see in a couple weeks. like everyone else, i do think it’s supercool that he’s going.OCexile01-04-2025
- Go back to that era and look at the lousy mechanicals he's had at Paris-Roubaix. Take those away, maybe he has another Monument, Van der Poel has one less, and suddenly all the rules change. Those mechanicals preceded his awful crashes - and you're right, that Tour was amazing. Ventoux, TT, and Champs-Elysees?! Something that Pogacar and Van der Poel can't do, just Wout. It still amazes me.RidesHills01-04-2025
- Oh, the impossibility of this kind of comparison. A pre-WW2 Binda had amazing statistics, and that was one era. During what I think of as the romantic era, Poulidor had an incredible run at the Tour without winning, and Bobet won some grand tours and some Monuments. In this modern era (for me: after Hinault), we've had multiple Monument winners win a grand tour (such as Valverde and Kelly, with Kelly the better rider in general), and then we've got someone like Roglic, the true GC rider. Sure there was a Monument that was kind of a fluke (both Pogacar and Hirschi might have won, and twitchy Alaphilippe deserved relegation), but what matters are the 5 grand tours and all these wins across the 1 week GC races except for the Tour de Suisse (you'd think he'd race it to get the set of them all). In this era, since 2000 or so, maybe he meets the description as best non-Tour winner. How many GC riders have these wins and not the Tour? To compare to other eras really is not possible. He's his own unique rider, and it's been amazing watching him for the past many years. That's about all we can say.RidesHills01-04-2025
- Ease up on a brother!bobo01-04-2025
- Primoz finds ways to win. Too bad he'll never take Tour de France.awp01-04-2025
- I don't think I would ever count Wout van Aert out of a race if his head is in it. He is a serious talent.awp01-04-2025
- He's a great rider for sure, not sure if he the best to never win the Tour though.awp01-04-2025
- Hard to imagine that his confidence - that imperious flow state that great athletes operate in - hasn't been affected. But that is a different dynamic than the one you described. He has not become hesitant because he is fixated on his rival. He has suffered multiple traumatic injuries, and I have no doubt he is still 1% off both mentally and physically as a result. Football (both kinds) and basketball players who blow out knees go through a predictable cycle in which they are reluctant to do max efforts even after their doctors have cleared them. I myself went though a small version of that after a back injury. It's just hard once you no longer know where the line is. We saw in his TT a couple weeks ago that he still has power, and for all the hand wringing he is still finishing in the top 10-20 of big races. But as we have seen with others, getting *all* the way back is not assured. I'm not ready to say he is done, but few riders who have been hurt as often and as badly as him remain at the top.MidnightRider01-04-2025
- It’s quite a limited sport when it comes to stories, they have to try to make news.Mistermaumau31-03-2025
- But you yourself are agreeing the crashing affected his psyche, or is that just me getting the wrong impression?Mistermaumau31-03-2025