"I would tell Van der Poel that he should go to the Tour de France" - Michel Wuyts plans out world champion's preparation for Olympic Games
Cycling
After fighting and scrapping his way to a podium finish at Liege-Bastogne-Liege last Sunday, Mathieu van der Poel is now set for an extended break from the peloton.
When the world champion returns, van der Poel still has two main targets for the season, retaining the Rainbow Jersey at the World Championships and taking gold at the Olympic Games in Paris. How the Dutch superstar will prepare for these races remain something that is up in the air however, although for Belgian cycling expert, Michel Wuyts, a clear plan can be seen.
“It seems obvious to me that Mathieu van der Poel will compete in the road race at the Paris Olympics. I don't expect him in the time trial because tenth place means nothing to him. He has to go for Olympic gold,” says Wuyts on the Wuyts & Vlaeminck podcast for HLN. "Given the time span between the road race and the end of the Tour, I would tell Van der Poel that he should go to the Tour de France."
"Often about 12 days is ideal to recharge your batteries and get the body to an even higher level. And that is precisely the time span between the Olympic road race and the end of the Tour," Wuyts continues. "Van der Poel must then ride the Tour as he has been riding it for a few years now. Aim for a stage or two, work for Philipsen in between and ensure that in the last week he shifts his focus to what will make him sparkle: the Olympic Games.”
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- Podcast sounds great. Two so called experts stating the f*cking obvious.wrsty04-11-2026
- A mindset that reminds me of Tim Declerq. I loved watching that guy just pound away the kilometers, hours at the front, holding an entire breakaway in check on his own. Bjerg seems like a similar guy. Curling, the team sport.RidesHills04-11-2026
- He will be lol, but he can still win on the climbs hahaawp04-11-2026
- I would love to have his inconsistency. How many wins this year? 2 TdF stages, a WC, a Euro championship, San Sebastian, multiple wins early year. Monument podiums. I'd take it. I don't think he has a chance in the TdF, but he is still amazing.mij04-11-2026
- He's not going to win the TdF. Maybe if they make every single stage a TT he could win. But I still believe Tadej would just sharpen his TT skills and win.mij04-11-2026
- You beat me to it. Should he make a full recovery (likely) and go light early in the year. One, two, three. Don't ask me, I don't give a damn. Should he be on a Feel-Like-He's-Fixin'-to-Die High.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- The deciding factor may be the (TBD) number of (any type of) kilometers without Pogacar.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- Unexplained chronic fatigue is an all too common bitch. The hard to find definitive answer may lie buried in gut mechanisms. A mystery of the deep.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- It's weird to say Evenepoel would be making a "serious mistake by adding the 2027 Giro d'Italia to his calendar, warning that such a decision could even be interpreted as a lack of confidence in his ability to win the Tour de France." It may well be a mistake but with so many commentators (of all sorts) continuously claiming almost everything Remco does as being a mistake, almost nobody should care what the pundits and the disparagers should say. His team may not want him to do the Giro, and that matters. But it's possibly or probably up to Remco to decide and it may not have to be decided on until a month or so ahead of the race. Yes , Remco is inconsistent much like the majority of the best riders but he's enjoying a period of not having been recently injured (or sick). Whatever he does he need not be concerned with critics who will second guess any perceived failure no matter what. I suspect he will have enough other races on his schedule so he won't be considering it. But the worst reason to not race it is because of what some will say - humorous that be.Yepperoni04-11-2026
- I'll say clean sweep all grand tourZamorano04-11-2026
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Full respect between these two 🤝🤩 Even Mathieu Van der Poel admits he can't follow an attack from Tadej Pogačar 😲 📸 Getty Images
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