15/09/2024

Mathieu van der Poel confirms no Lombardia; World Championships his final race of the season; And laments Wout van Aert's absence from Europeans

Mathieu van der Poel spoke to Sporza ahead of the European Championship in Limburg where he says he will miss Wout van Aert in order to toughen up the race and that he will have no problem putting himself at the service of Olav Kooij to try to help the Netherlands win if he must.

He admits that he spent time in Spain getting in shape and that his level is very good. However, he does not know exactly what level he is at right now: "I did a lot of long training in Spain. I am happy with my level at the moment. I have prepared for this European Championships in the same way I face my other goals. It's hard to know what my chances are." Gauging by his frequent return to racing at the start of the season only at Milano-Sanremo - where he's often showed good form, we can assume the World Champion will be lively in the cobbles of this Sunday's race.

Tiesj Benoot on Wout van Aert and his Vuelta crash: "He knows that he was the Wout van Aert of old again"

The race is not too difficult however and van der Poel admits that it would be very beneficial to have an ally such as van Aert so as to increase his chances of staying away in case he is to make differences in the hard part of the race.

So he'll try to get away in the hard part and if he can't, he'll work for team sprinter Olav Kooij at the end likely as the last leadout: "It's a pity that Wout is not here. He would have been a good ally in the middle part of the race . If I can't make the difference, I'll play the leader for Olav Kooij."

Javier Guillén encourages Primoz Roglic to focus on making cycling history: "Why don't we get the first rider to win his fifth Vuelta?"

Zurich, last race of the year

Regarding the Zurich World Championships, he makes it clear that he is not the big favorite to retain the rainbow jersey he won last year in Glasgow, although he obviously does not rule out the possibility of winning.

"I'm not the big favorite for the World Championships. The course looks very demanding, but not impossible. I've worked as hard as I can to defend the rainbow jersey. The World Championships will be my last road race of the season."

It was rumored that he would race Il Lombardia, but he has made it clear that the World Championships will be his last road race before tackling his cyclocross season...