Mathieu van der Poel controls expectations ahead of Liège-Bastogne-Liège: "I weigh more than 75kg, unfortunately"

Mathieu van der Poel showed up at the start of Liège-Bastogne-Liège today with several layers of clothes ahead of the imminent cold, but keeping modest expectations as he understands the Belgian classic has over the years became more suited to the climbers.

“I weigh more than 75kg, unfortunately," van der Poel told Het Nieuwsblad this morning. "There is a difference in weight, but every race has to be ridden and you never know what will happen. It is a difficult task to continue after those cobbled Classics. But we will try it this year and then we can still see whether we can put everything on Liège in the coming years."

Having won three monuments in his career, Liège-Bastogne-Liège is the one he hasn't yet won where he can more realistically succeed. The Dutchman leads Alpecin-Deceuninck here after a brilliant streak of success in the cobbled classics that was almost completely a 100% win rate, but hopes to have better legs than those he showed at Amstel Gold Race. However, he did not race Flèche Wallonne and avoided the horrible conditions which the riders faced and could face again with the weather.

“I have quite a few clothes on so it's okay for now, but I hope it doesn't start raining because then it will immediately get a lot chillier," he continued. "They indicate very cold temperatures at the highest points today, but we have enough clothes on so that should be possible.”