Mathieu van der Poel on Giro presence: "Everyone always says that a Grand Tour makes you better, so I'm curious"

Mathieu van der Poel has concluded what was a successful cobbled classics campaign, with a climax at the Tour des Flandres where he took an impressive win just weeks after returning to the peloton. Now, he eyes the second part of the season.

The Alpecin-Fenix rider told Wielerflits that he will be racing the Giro d'Italia, which was already known, but now with a different view: "Yes, it has also been partly at my own request. The Giro is a race that appeals to me. I think it will definitely be good for me in the future, to do a Grand Tour for my evolution as a rider. Especially when you see what a spring I've ridden now. That was not very extensive.”

After a racing period in 2020 where he tested himself in the mountains late in the season towards Il Lombardia, van der Poel has several times returned to the country for racing. This season, he came back to competition at Milano-Sanremo and afterwards at the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali where he took a stage win. He will keep racing in Italy, with his debut at the Giro scheduled for the coming month.

“That might give me a little more base and make me a little stronger," van der Poel added. "The engine is just a little bigger. That's something I still need to work on. I haven't ridden a [whole] Grand Tour yet, even though I'm 27 years old. Everyone always says that a Grand Tour makes you better, so I'm curious."

Whether he has intentions of completing the Grand Tour or not is unknown, however with the opening stage on a small hilltop at Visegrád, he's a big candidate to pull on the first pink jersey.