"I start here with ambition" - Mathieu van der Poel looking for wins as Belgium Tour whilst Jasper Philipsen hunts sprints
Cycling
The Baloise Belgium Tour starts today and it features many of the sprinters and classics riders which will star at the upcoming Tour de France. Mathieu van der Poel is among them and he's looking to succeed and show good form on his week of return to competition.
"Of course I start here with ambition. Together with Jasper Philipsen, who is also doing well and should also be able to go for the general classification, I think," van der Poel said at the start of the day. He will be one of the favourites for the overall classification, which should be decided on stages 3 and 4 where he riders tackle a medium-sized time-trial and an explosive hilly day.
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Away from the mountains of the Criterium du Dauphiné and Tour de Suisse, the Alpecin-Deceuninck duo has decided to place it's chips in Belgium, where they find better suited terrain. Jasper Philipsen, who's had a tremendous spring, is looking to test his Tour leadout here and hoping that all the pieces of the puzzle will fit together.
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"This week I especially want to get our sprint train for the Tour de France back on track," he tells. "I think there are three flat stages: Scherpenheuvel, Knokke and Brussels. Those are three rides that should suit me and that I want to go full for. The final stage to Brussels with arrival under the Atomium has a high Champs-Elysées content. If I had to choose one, I would like to win that stage."
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A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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- A great champion but a better human. jus' sayin'
Davide15-11-2026 - Congrats! It is done so now is time for CX.averagecyclist15-11-2026
- It's going to happen at some point. It will happen to Tadej as well, we all get older. Jonas was in pretty great form at the tour. I still consider him a top two or three cyclist in the world, until he's not.awp15-11-2026
- mij, I am not so sure of that. I have been on a spine ward at a Denver hospital that had quite a few spinal injuries from mountain biking.BDBigGuy15-11-2026
- Pogi takes care of his teammates in races and training. Tadej Pogačar is widely praised within the cycling peloton for his fair and egalitarian leadership, actively supporting his UAE teammates both on the road during races and behind the scenes at training camps. Rather than acting like an untouchable superstar, he has intense team loyalty by sharing daily chores, giving up personal glory to help domestiques, and publicly praising their sacrifices. Unlike some Grand Tour contenders, like Vingegaard, who occasionally train away from their squads, Pogi consistently attends team training camps alongside his domestiques, making the exact same sacrifices to build friendship. I love how Pogačar shares his teammates-domestiques, either when they succeed or win in races or when they simply just do a good job for him. It has to be a great moral boost for them. And then they work even harder and go even deeper for Pogi. This is teamwork.PogiSloFans15-11-2026
- Yeah, what he said!Lozza15-11-2026
- I’m sure Jasper Philipsen would disagree with you.Lozza15-11-2026
- Article says he was “out for a spin around the town”, implying not off-road.Lozza15-11-2026
- let’s be honest, Alpecin is all about one rider - MVDP. I’m sure he gets whatever he needs, the rest get the scraps.mij15-11-2026
- there are more vicious injuries on a road bike than a mountain bike far and away.mij15-11-2026
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Next - and one but last - stop in our preparation for the Tour de France: @belgium_tour. With @mathieuvdpoel and @JasperPhilipsen as our leaders. Tomorrow we kick off in Scherpenheuvel ⛪, Sunday we finish in Brussels. #alpecindeceuninck
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