“I think Mathieu can win both” – Adrie van der Poel certain his son can win Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Il Lombardia
CyclingMonday, 21 April 2025 at 13:44
Earlier this month, Mathieu van der Poel made history once
again by winning Paris-Roubaix for the third consecutive year. His 2025
campaign has already been remarkable, beating Tadej Pogacar at both
Milano-Sanremo and Roubaix, and finishing third at the Tour of Flanders, which
Pogacar won.
The rivalry between Van der Poel and Pogacar is fast
becoming one of the defining narratives of this era. But the question now being
asked is: which of the two could go on to complete the fabled ‘Monument Grand
Slam’?
Only three riders, Rik Van Looy, Eddy Merckx, and Roger De
Vlaeminck, have won all five Monuments. Van der Poel already has multiple wins
at Milan-Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders, and Paris-Roubaix. Pogacar, on the
other hand, has claimed multiple victories at Liège–Bastogne–Liège, Il
Lombardia, and the Tour of Flanders.
And Mathieu has someone at home who knows what it takes to
win these races, his father, Adrie van der Poel, who won Liège in 1988 and also
claimed a Flanders title, among other major victories.
Speaking to Bici.Pro, Adrie reflected on his son’s
most recent triumph and what may still lie ahead, "I think the last
Roubaix was really special. It was a really emotional race," he said. "Precisely
because it was the last chapter of a challenge between two great champions,
which always leaves uncertainty about its final outcome. I think it was a great
race and seeing its final outcome filled me with pride."
Despite Mathieu already being 30, Adrie still sees room for
growth, “I think he can still improve. Of course, he is thirty years old now,
but he is used to hard work and at this point he needs to change something in
his preparation. I think he can still improve a little, not much but he has to
do it to continue winning because the level always rises.”
On whether his son could win Liège, Adrie said, “It's a
question that many asked me last Sunday. He could win it, he has every chance,
but the route has a big influence. The organizers love to make their races more
and more difficult and by doing so they increasingly narrow down the group of
favorites, of those who can win.
“The Lombardia is a beautiful race, only they make it too
difficult. So by doing so you exclude many riders, classic riders, from the
fight for success. Today I think that only 2-3 riders can win the classic of
the dead leaves. When I was racing it was the reign of uncertainty, there could
be 50 who started with the possibility of winning and this made it more
uncertain and interesting.”
“I'm just saying that races like the Monuments should be a
battleground for everyone, they shouldn't be made too difficult in their
construction, more space should be left for the teams' strategies and the
riders' imagination.”
When asked if Mathieu can complete the set, Adrie expressed
optimism, “I think Mathieu can win both. It takes a good day and a bit of luck,
but in the conditions he is in he has every chance of doing so, I am
optimistic. It is clear, however, that the other three classics are tailor-made
for him, they are better suited to his characteristics and the victories at the
Milan-Sanremo are truly a feather in his cap.”
Van der Poel has only ridden Il Lombardia once, in 2020,
when he finished tenth. But Adrie believes with the right preparation, success
is possible, “He has done the Lombardia only once, in 2020. And he came in
tenth. I say that with the right conditions he could compete. He has to arrive
with the right weight, maybe lose something like he did last year before the
world championships and he got on the podium in a very tough race.
“ He knows he can do it, therefore, that his body will
respond. It would be important to prepare him by going to the Vuelta and then
tackling some hilly races, challenging in terms of altitude, to get used to it.
It is clear that on Pogacar's terrain it would be very tough, but we can try.”
In 2025, Van der Poel will also target the mountain bike
World Championship, a discipline where he already has a strong pedigree, but
not the rainbow jersey…
“It's difficult to change bikes during the season. But I
think he's already shown in the past that he's capable of it. He's won World
Cup races, which means he's a winner there too. I think his choice is right,
considering the road world championship is too tough and demanding even as an
away race. It's a goal to chase this year. So I think he'll give it his all.
He'll try, without putting too much pressure on himself, let's say it's a
‘plus’ in his season. It's part of those goals he's set between now and the end
of his career, as well as winning an Olympic medal.”
Adrie also praised his son’s calm and adaptable approach to
racing, “Cyclocross and road are in his DNA, as is a bit for our family.
Mathieu on the other hand has one virtue: he lives each event in a fairly
relaxed way. He is aware of being well prepared, of being healthy and of having
nothing to worry about. He is not often nervous about a race and this is a good
thing.”
“Mountain biking is perhaps more of a whim, a
divertissement, but I think that for him cyclocross in the winter is an
excellent preparation and I also think that, with the methods and times as he
has interpreted it in the last two years, it is an excellent thing. So I think
he doesn't have to change much, do some cyclocross, take a little break and
then give his all for the world championship.”
But when asked who is more likely to complete the Grand
Slam, Adrie is realistic, “I think it's a little easier for Tadej than Mathieu,
this year's results in Sanremo and Roubaix say he's very close to the top in
those two races too, without Mathieu he would have won them, I think.
Objectively he's the one who's really capable of doing the Grand Slam.”
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- Yeah, a big one 😁
DareDevil06-05-2025 - That's a surprise
leedorney06-05-2025 - You were doing so well up until the last paragraph :-). So Almeida did not win a single stage race with UAE and now because of contract uplift he can win prestigious races? Come on. The man was being shaped to get to this level and took 2 years. After leaving QS he had lost his punch, he is not a sprinter of course but he had a good kick, he also lost a bit his TT performance, was a disaster going downhill. All this time he was improving his climbing and now he is recovering all the aforementioned qualities he had before. He is not putting on a show because of contract negotiations, he simply evolved also due to changing trainer. I think he will do a hat-trick in Tour de Suisse and then go with no pressure to the Tour. Depending on how well Jonas or Remco recover and how tired Roglic is from the Giro, a podium might fall on his lap. Then Vuelta maybe UAE can compensate his performance by making him the solo leader if Pogacar is doubting. However, where I am really interested to see Almeida is the World Championships. I am hoping the race is split early and then we see Almeida picking up corpses along the Rwanda streets up until he reaches an empty Pogacar and then tips him over the line. Then I wake up and life continues.Indioshak06-05-2025
- Jonas had also had a speed wobble on that same descent. They have both improved their descending skills since then, and in 2024 took scary risks on downhills.Hill3306-05-2025
- Should be a good one! It's been since 2022 since we have seen peak Pogi vs peak Vingo. 2023 Pogi had injuries and a suboptimal preparation. 2024 Vingo had even worse injuries and a poor runup to the Tour. UAE team has gotten stronger since 2022, while Visma maybe less strong.mobk06-05-2025
- You'd have to be an amoral prick to work for this team.Matt06-05-2025
- Jonas is a very solid descender. Remember him waiting for Pog when Pog crashed on a descent in 2022mobk05-05-2025
- For Pogi's first win against Jonas, he had a very subpar team relative to Jumbo. I don't think Jonas would have stood a chance if he had Pogi's team that year.Veganpotter05-05-2025
- He descended very well at the TdF last year after the first couple stages with technical descents.Veganpotter05-05-2025
- The funny thing about all of this is that Pogi can(that doesn't mean he definitely will) win the TdF while it's only one of many goals. Jonas is fully focused on the TdF. Yes, he does other races but they're solely in preparation for the TdF. Jonas is great, but much of the reason he has a fighters chance is that Pogi isn't a rider that's fully focused on stage races.Veganpotter05-05-2025
Liege...maybe. Lombardia...never!
Always depends on who lines up and how badly he’d want it. Imagine 3 years from now with LBL and and Olympic medal in his pocket, he could consider it his last challenge and neglect everything else to go specifically for that only with a team geared towards it. It would only take good execution and one or two missing favourites for it to happen. In cycling you usually don’t come away too well saying never to possibilities.
He'd never be able to hang on those Lombardia climbs...thats a fact!
There’s this guy who won the Tour once and has been on GT podiums quite often, similar stature but almost a decade older. Got pretty good at climbing even though he started lufe on the track and was more a TT type. I’ll let you guess and develop your argument (they help to validate or convince of simplistic statements) as to what is or isn’t possible given desire, time and willpower, all things MVDP will have for the time it may take until this becomes a goal for him, so, I say, if he DECIDES to put his mind to it, there are chances he COULD pull it off. Skjelmose beating Tadej last week was also considered incredibly unlikely, until it happened, and only when it did did people start thinking how that was possible and coming up with all sorts of reasons and arguments they didn’t want to accept and even ridiculed in advance.
That’s more or less how I see it too. A guy who can win short cyclocrosses, long classics, comes close on some stage races, keeps up with some of the best on moderate climbs and outpowers everyone on steep short ones will have a pretty good reserve for adaptation and specialisation. He already achieved 3rd on LBL after a crash and when not in the best of form without having targeted it specifically, he is CAPABLE of much more than we’ve seen so far.
Against Pogi, never for both. He was not able to win Flanders which was supposed to be his terrain.
Yes, that would make it close to impossible but who says he will be doing both every year, at so e point he too will get sick or injured or crash and be out of action and someone else will have to win.