Mathieu van der Poel: "I am a bit fresher mentally"

Mathieu van der Poel has had a late but strong start to the season with Alpecin-Fenix, and after a successful spring campaign he will now refocus his season on the upcoming Grand Tours.

“Now you notice that sometimes a little rest and a training period can also work out well," he told Sporza. "Before I started racing again, I was not really enjoying it. I think many people can confirm that. You hear from many cyclists that they only realize how much they love cycling after an injury, and that is correct. I have a lot of fun cycling and training again, that is a big difference. In recent years I have lived a lot from race to race and had few training periods. That was okay, I was behind that myself. But now you notice that sometimes a little rest and a training period can also work out well.”

A lingering back issue saw the Dutchman miss a month of training in January, which initially seemed to prevent him from being at his best in the cobbled classics - which would end up being an incorrect assumption. After returning to competition at Milano-Sanremo, he finished third, and in the meantime hasn't reported back issues.

“I don't know whether the hunger is even greater, but I do notice that I am a bit fresher mentally. Suffering is just that little bit easier than before. That back will remain a focus for the rest of my career, but if I keep doing those exercises and strength training and can solve that... I think I have come out stronger," he added.

With a win at the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali, Dwars door Vlaanderen and Tour des Flandres, van der Poel has had a successful spring campaign. Third in Mliano-Sanremo, fourth at Amstel Gold Race and ninth at Paris-Roubaix added to his tally. He's talked about his racing style, often times considered too aggressive: “But it has also brought me a lot to race like this. Maybe I wouldn't have won other races if I had ridden 'smartly'. It is a trade-off that you have to make, but the level is so high that it has become impossible to race stupidly.”

Regarding the post-Giro period, which was also a subject in the interview, van der Poel has opened up about his goals: “It is not yet 100% certain whether I will do the Dutch National Championships after the Giro. Normally yes. But it may be that after the Giro I first take some rest and then do an altitude camp before the Tour. The Dutch jersey is of course very beautiful, but not my biggest this year.

"I especially want to show beautiful things in the Giro and the Tour. After that, the focus is on the World championships on the road," he concluded.