Mathieu van der Poel came fourth in the time trial at Baloise Belgium Tour. While this brings the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider into overall lead, he says that he'd have rather won the stage. Even so, the 28-year old cyclist is satisfied with his performance as he looks to bring home the overall victory.
"I feel like I finished a good time trial, but I had hoped for more from the result," Van der Poel is honest after the time trial. "In the second part the wind was against and then aero plays an even bigger role than usual. That's exactly what I've been working on, but apparently not well enough."
Despite the fact that he had expected more from himself, van der Poel can be satisfied with the result. "I can speak for myself about my feeling. I'm also happy with the wattages I've pushed. On the other hand, it is frustrating to ride such watts, but not come close to a victory. All in all, I drove a decent time trial though."
June 16 will go down as a dark day in cycling history. Van der Poel was asked for a short statement on a post-stage press conference. "It's hard to put something like that into words. Of course we have to stop. It is incredibly unfortunate that such an accident happened. It became quiet on our bus for a while when that news came in," said the Dutchman, who also added that he did not know Mäder personally.
It is with deep sadness that we hear of the passing of our beloved colleague Gino Mäder. On behalf of the entire Alpecin-Deceuninck team, we extend our sincere condolences to family, friends, teammates and all members of @BHRVictorious. Rest in peace, Gino 🙏
