"He really was the engine" - Belgian pundit argues Mathieu van der Poel was the reason why Dauphiné breakaway won

Stage 3 of the Criterium du Dauphiné was a brutal one, with over 45Km/h of average speed over the 3000 meters of climbing and quite a lot of heat. In the green jersey, Mathieu van der Poel joined the breakaway and pushed through in hopes of obtaining the yellow jersey and/or a stage win at the end of the day. He didn't succeed in either, but proved his great form once again.

"Yesterday, according to winner [Iván] Romeo, it was Van der Poel who had to pull the chestnuts out of the fire," De Cauwer commented on his analysis for Sporza. "He really was the engine along the way. On that climb towards the end he was even dropped a little bit. He then had to come back on the descent."

The Dutchman struggled on the most difficult climb of the day late on, but due to the flat kilometers that followed, he and several riders were able to return to the head of the race. However with so much quality in the front group and a clear favourite like van der Poel dealing with flat roads, it was inevitable that some riders would use him as an excuse not to work or attack.

Hence a stage victory was always going to be extremely difficult, and he ended up crossing the line distant from stage winner and eventual new yellow jersey Iván Romeo. But the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider showed what he was capable of doing and it was a great sign towards the Tour de France.

"I'm not going to say great. But he's going to ride a good Tour de France. He's motivated. And when Jasper Philipsen looks at the race, he will be very happy with the way Van der Poel rides - if he is good himself, because that remains to be seen," de Cauwer concluded. Today on stage 4 we could see van der Poel testing himself again in an attempt to still potentially reach the race lead.