Mathieu van der Poel: "I am very satisfied with the level I am achieving"

Alpecin-Fenix are starting tomorrow's Dwars door Vlaanderen with a strong squad that includes Mathieu van der Poel, Jasper Philipsen and Gianni Vermeersch. Van der Poel has spoken to the media today regarding his preparation and ambitions for the coming race, and also the Tour des Flandres.

"Super good in terms of values. But that is not a certainty for the Flemish classics," van der Poel stated. "I have been able to do one of my better preparations because of this longer rest period. I am very satisfied with the level I am achieving."

"I don't know if it did any good mentally, because I wasn't fit. If you're healthy, that's something else. So it was not a pleasant period. I thought I wouldn't make it to the classics and we looked more towards the climbing classics," he added. After taking a month off the bike until late January due to back problems, he returned to the road in early February and took part in a six-week training camp in the Calpe area where he looked to build form towards the remainder of the spring classics.

"That would have given us more time. The Amstel Gold Race then became the target, but on a training camp in Spain I improved a lot in two weeks and that's how I believed in it myself." he added. After a last-minute call-in for Milano-Sanremo, the longest race in the calendar, he was an active figure in the race and finished in third spot to the surprise of many. He's since raced the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali where he took a stage win before travelling back up to Belgium.

"I'm good enough to win. I'm definitely reaching the level of 3 years ago. I'm going to the big classics with confidence and I feel 100 percent. I'm also just looking forward to racing again, especially with the Flemish public," he said. Tomorrow he makes his cobbled classic debut this year at Dwars door Vlaanderen where he'll be testing his legs for the big challenge on the weekend. Paris-Roubaix in the meantime, where he finished third last year, is still over three weeks away and the Dutchman will be eyeing it aswell in search of another monument.

Alpecin-Fenix for Dwars door Vlaanderen: Mathieu van der Poel, Jasper Philipsen, Tobias Bayer, Michael Gogl, Dries de Bondt, Julien Vermote and Gianni Vermeersch.