"It may well be too difficult for him" - Alpecin-Deceuninck manager on Mathieu van der Poel's chances at World Championships

The World Championships road race for the men takes place this Sunday and at this point, virtually all the work and preparation is done. It's a circuit that is tougher than what Mathieu van der Poel would like in Zurich but he presents himself as a contender. How good his chances will be however will depend on how it's raced.

"Mathieu is one of the five best one-day riders in the world and if you are in shape, you should also have the ambition to triumph on such a course," Alpecin-Deceuninck manager Christoph Roodhoft said to De Telegraaf. "After his successful spring, Mathieu rode a difficult Tour and Olympic road race, which in his case failed. You are talking about a period of about five weeks of racing with a zero result. He is not used to that and it is not pleasant for him. He is a winner."

Van der Poel hadn't won since Paris-Roubaix until last week at the Tour de Luxembourg, where he presented himself in great climbing form. He won the first stage, finished high up there in all of them and was second in the overall classification. It was a race packed with explosive stages and he has put in the focus to make it to Switzerland lighter in order to have better chances to match the likes of Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel. "Is he too thin? I think that is a lot of talk. He is a bit lighter than normal, but not abnormally much," he says. 

"A rider who can finish third in Liège-Bastogne-Liège is not without a chance on this course, although it may well be too difficult for him," Roodhoft acknowledges. 2However, there are more factors that play a role, such as the course of the race: what are the other countries and competitors doing."