Mathieu van der Poel is widely considered a favorite to be the first wearer of yellow jersey: "In the first week I already expect a lot from van der Poel"
Cycling
There's still nearly two weeks left before Tour de France 2023 with many teams still waiting to reveal their final lineups, but there are already many predictions placed for the race. One of the most popular opinion among cycling public is the one that Mathieu van der Poel will be wearing yellow jersey after the opening stage in Pays Basque.
"It remains bizarre how good Van der Poel is when he has set his sights on something," De Telegraaf sees. "Of course things sometimes go wrong, such as in 2021 during the Olympic mountain bike race or last year when the Tour de France became a complete flop for the cycling phenomenon. In the Tour of Belgium he showed his class, albeit not against a high-quality peloton, by relegating the rest to extras."
"Write it down: Van der Poel is one of the big favorites to wear the yellow on Saturday 1 July after the first stage of the Tour starting in Bilbao. On a similar course, the leader of Alpecin-Deceuninck rode almost forty kilometers solo on Saturday to stage and overall victory in the Baloise Belgium Tour," writes Het Nieuwsblad full of awe.
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"He was without a doubt the strongest in the race. So strong that the competition in the queen stage made a tactical plan without taking into account the Dutch leader of Alpecin-Deceuninck. Van der Poel is ready for a leading role in the Tour." Or as HLN columnist Michel Wuyts writes: "He's going to cause a lot of noise. In the first week I already expect a lot from him. Unlike Van Aert, he doesn't have to take anyone into account."
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Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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Queen stage of @belgium_tour in Durbuy in 4 photos. Congrats @mathieuvdpoel, congrats team! #alpecindeceuninck
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