“Hopefully I can win a stage in the first week” – Mathieu van der Poel in a fighting mood ahead of the Tour de France

After a Criterium du Dauphiné spent on the offensive, Mathieu van der Poel heads into the 2025 Tour de France in arguably better shape than ever before. The Dutchman may have missed out on a stage win and the green jersey, but both the way he rode and the way he reflected on the race offer a clear indication that he means business at next month’s Tour.

“I am very happy with this week,” Van der Poel said after the final stage. “Of course I wanted to win a stage and the green jersey, but I can only be happy with how I rode this week. It was a very tough week and that is exactly what I needed for the Tour de France. I am satisfied.”

The Dauphiné has traditionally been used by general classification contenders to fine tune form and test legs ahead of cycling’s biggest race, but for van der Poel, the week long race served another function: to race into condition. After missing training time following a wrist injury sustained in a mountain bike crash, the Dauphiné offered the kind of effort that training can’t replicate.

“I need a race like this to get better. Then I get used to the feeling of being on the limit every day,” he said. “It won't be because of the hardness in the Tour in three weeks. It will be chaotic, hopefully I can win a stage in the first week. From now on I will recover a bit and then I can train hard.”

The chaos he refers to is the first week of the Tour de France, where usually his role is to deliver Jasper Philipsen to stage wins. But this year, the terrain should give more opportunities to the classics specialists, of which Mathieu van der Poel is the very best. But can he add to his Tour de France tally?

That tally still stands at just one, earned in 2021 when he lit up Stage 2 with a brutally emotional victory that saw him honour his late grandfather Raymond Poulidor. For a rider with 8 Monument victories and 9 world titles across cyclocross, road racing and gravel, his Tour de France record remains oddly underwhelming.

Last year’s Tour campaign was compromised by a long gap without racing. He didn’t compete again after Liège-Bastogne-Liège in April and entered the Tour perhaps too fresh and undercooked, despite a spring where he won Flanders and Roubaix. This year, the lead-in is entirely different. He’s already won Milano-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix, and has now added a tough Dauphiné to his calendar, riding aggressively throughout. That shift in preparation could be crucial.

There’s no question van der Poel remains one of the most explosive and influential riders in the peloton, capable of deciding a stage in seconds. The question heading into the Tour de France is whether this year’s different build-up and renewed momentum can help him convert fireworks into results.

His rivals are aware. After the flat stage 1 where Jasper Philipsen will aim for the yellow jersey, van der Poel will likely be given freedom to chase stage wins on hillier terrain and breakaway days. He will also be heavily involved in Alpecin-Deceuninck’s green jersey campaign, but unlike Philipsen, his ambitions are not limited to flat bunch kicks.

At the Dauphiné, he repeatedly tested himself in difficult terrain and committed to breakaways in a manner most fans hope he can repeat next month. He may not have won a stage, but in a GC-focused field and a parcours unfriendly to one day men, his presence was felt.

And crucially, he emerged unscathed and confident after recent injury, a far cry from the caution that surrounded him just weeks ago. “Hopefully I can win a stage in the first week,” he said, and we will now not have to wait long to find out.