"I hope to grow to my top form from race to race" - Mathieu van der Poel back to racing at Druivenkoers - Overijse

Mathieu van der Poel has returned to the peloton today at the Druivenkoers - Overijse and he has talked about his recent weeks, preparation and aims for the World championships.

After a long break following the Tour de France, where he cited fatigue as the reason why he could not perform, the Dutchman decided to change his preparation towards the World championships last week. "I rested a lot after the Tour and only decided to start here last week. Hopefully I'm ready," he said at the start of Druivenkoers - Overijse.

"The spring went very well in the short term, but after the Giro I may have been without a bike for a little too long and then started training fairly hard at altitude in Livigno. I think it's a combination of those things," he explained why he thinks the Tour preparation was far from ideal. He abandoned the race on the 11th stage without a strong result to show for. His preparation for the World championships also seemed at risk as there had been no hint towards where he'd return to racing, but that will be during today's Belgian semi-classic.

"I'm certainly not in my top form now, but I'm looking forward to it. After a while, training becomes aimless and you just want to race," he added. He'll have to battle with the likes of Biniam Girmay and Dylan Teuns, in a complicated race which features several bergs and cobbled sectors.

"We are going to evaluate how things are going week by week. There are not a lot of races left to do, so today I definitely wanted to be there." There is almost exactly one month left to the World championships, and although there is time to see gains in form, van der Poel is expected to have a competitive level.

"I hope to grow to my top form from race to race, with training sessions in between. It is certainly the intention to be the leader at the World Championships, that will normally work," he concluded. It is understood that he has added the GP de Wallonie and the Primus Classic as two preparations in mid-September towards the big goal, with Il Lombardia also an objective for later in the year.