"I prefer to race with all the top riders at the start” - Mixed emotions for overwhelming favourite Mathieu van der Poel prior to Tour of Flanders

Mathieu van der Poel will take to the startline this Sunday at the Tour of Flanders overwhelming favourite for victory after a mid-week sees Wout van Aert absent and Mads Pedersen not at 100%.

"The Tour of Flanders suits me. It's a race with a lot of intervals and climbs in quick succession," previews the two-time winner in conversation with his team ahead of the race. "Not too long, but aggressive. Something I love."

A few weeks ago, it looked like being a very hotly contested race with van der Poel, Wout van Aert and in-form Lidl-Trek duo, Jasper Stuyven and Mads Pedersen all strong contenders among others. A massive crash at Dwars Door Vlaanderen in midweek however, has opened the door very wide for van der Poel and Alpecin-Deceuninck, despite the absence of his teammate, Jasper Philipsen.

“I have never made it a secret that I prefer to race with all the top riders at the start,” van der Poel insists though. “Whether the absence of Wout and Jasper will affect me, you can't predict in advance. Perhaps there will be even more pressure on my shoulders, which doesn't make it any easier. On the other hand, Team Visma | Lease a Bike and Lidl-Trek remain two super strong blocks even without the presence of Van Aert and Stuyven, respectively. Jorgensen, Benoot, Pedersen, Milan, you name it.”

“At least with me, the focus remains the same. I'm just going to do my thing. Winning the Tour of Flanders is never easy and Sunday will be no different. How I'm going to tackle it? I can't say much about that beforehand," van der Poel continues. "It depends on how the race evolves, and how the situation is. Of course, I will take my responsibility, but as I said, in my opinion, Visma-Lease a Bike and Lidl-Trek stay super strong opponents."