Mathieu van der Poel: "I want to ride my best Tour yet"

Mathieu van der Poel has not raced since Paris-Roubaix, but after taking some rest from a long winter and spring campaign, he now returns to racing ahead of the Tour de France, where he plans to ride his best Grand Tour so far ahead of the World Championships.

“My own ambitions are clear: I will try to win a stage in the Tour. If that works out, it will soon be a good Tour. In addition, our goal is to arrive in Paris as best as possible, so that I am ready for the World Championships," the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider said in an extensive interview with Wielerflits. "The green jersey? No. If we're chasing it this year, it's for Jasper Philipsen. I am happy to help him with that.”

The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider has helped Philipsen a few times this year, more prominently at Tirreno-Adriatico where the Belgian took two sprint wins after being led out by van der Poel. He will be one of the main sprinters at the Tour and a clear green jersey contender, whilst van der Poel will focus on stage wins.

“Of course the classics are important to me. Along with the World Championships, by the way. That course is also very high on my wish list. But I am certainly also motivated to ride a good Tour. This is the first year that I go there with a very good preparation, without having to think about anything else," he admits. "I want to ride my best Tour yet and I'm honestly looking forward to it. We go to the Tour with a strong and beautiful selection and I look forward to creating great memories with the team.”

Without the Giro d'Italia or mountain bike events in May, the Dutchman has taken his time to calmly and properly prepare for the Tour. Whilst he has achieved wins and the yellow jersey in the past, he is looking to strike again where it perhaps matters the most - more for the team than for the successful 28-year old himself.

“It is difficult to say how I should approach the Tour. But the preparation of now is not comparable to the preparation I did for the Giro last year. Then I had very little time to do that after the classics. And now we are doing the perfect preparation till date. Still, it doesn't seem logical to me to throw too much energy in the Tour. But I won't hold back too much either. There will be more riders who are already thinking about the World Road Championships in Glasgow during the Tour," he says, referring to Wout van Aert as a prime example.

"Wout will also go for victories in the stages where I might also have a chance. But that's been the case for a few years now." Van der Poel will have, in what is a very tough Tour de France route, several chances. He will of course have to contest with a very strong field which is naturally present every year at the Tour, with Wout van Aert and Julian Alaphilippe giving great signs ahead of the race, and a rider like Tadej Pogacar being a favourite in virtually every terrain.

"However, Tadej focuses on other stages. He also goes to the Tour with a different goal. Whether Pogačar should ride the Tour if he also wants to be among the favorites at the World Championships, given his injury? No, I do not think so," van der Poel believes. "You don't need a Grand Tour to make yourself World champion. Although I think that most of the favorites for the World Championships will still have the Tour in their legs. But you shouldn't.”

As for getting to ride in the yellow jersey the Dutchman also sees it as a very difficult task. "That will be difficult. From the start, that first stage is very tough. I have to be in top shape for that. But if the very good climbers there are already thinking about the yellow jersey, which I expect, then I think the opening stage is very difficult for classic riders to win."

The Grand Depart will be in Bilbao, with the opening two stages having a significant amount of climbing which will make for relatively open days, but van der Poel is expected to be close to the best. "But of course we will try. Whether it is the intention to finish the Tour? Yes, Paris is my last stop before the World Championships. It's time to finish the Tour. That's why I prepared so well," he concluded.