"I am pleased with my legs" insists Mathieu van der Poel despite losing race lead at Tour de Luxembourg 2024 on stage 3

Mathieu van der Poel is using the 2024 Tour de Luxembourg primarily as preparation for the upcoming World Championships road race, where he will look to retain his Rainbow Jersey against the likes of Tadej Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel, Primoz Roglic and more.

After taking the victory on the opening stage in a reduced sprint and then coming home a close second to Mads Pedersen on stage 2, Van der Poel entered the first real general classification test at the 2024 Tour de Luxembourg on stage 3 in the race lead. Despite a relatively strong showing on a tough day though, that race lead has now been passed on to Soudal - Quick-Step's Mauri Vansevenant.

"It was an incredibly tough stage. Today we simply did not have enough manpower to control. I was soon alone in the race and had to react a lot to attacks," reflects the Dutchman in his post-stage interview, referring to the illness that has swept through the Alpecin-Deceuninck team, taking out half of Van der Poel's teammates.

Eventually crossing the line 41 seconds behind Vansevenant in third, Van der Poel drops to third overall, 34 seconds down on the Belgian. "I am pleased with my legs, it was a difficult stage. I think I managed to keep control quite well," concludes the world champion optimistically. "As I said before the race, the goal was mainly to win a stage than to go for the general classification. We will see how the last two stages go."

2024 Tour de Luxembourg GC after stage 3: