𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐖𝐇𝐎'𝐒 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊! 😍 @mathieuvdpoel will line-up for #MilanoSanremo tomorrow! 🎬 Check the full video with Mathieu on alpecincycling.com/en/pro-peloton… to discover his race schedule for the next weeks, and his thoughts on his return to competition.
Mathieu van der Poel on return to racing: "The last two weeks I made some really good steps"
CyclingFriday, 18 March 2022 at 13:11
Mathieu van der Poel is making a surprise return to the peloton at Milano-Sanremo where he will have an important role within Alpecin-Fenix alongside Jasper Philipsen. The Dutch rider has had to postpone his start of the season due to a lingering back injury, but feels he is back to a level where he can be of good use for the team.
“To abandon the CX-season was a tough decision to make. But I think it was the right one and in the end I’ve had really proper time now to take care of the problem," he said. Back issues have been felt since his crash at the MTB Olympics last year, however it was only this winter that things took a turn for the worst after his initial recovery process proved unsuccessful. On the 26th of December he returned to cyclocross with a second place in Dendermonde, however on the following day in Heusden-Zolder he abandoned quoting back issues. Soon after he was advised to take complete rest off the bike for a month, which was also used for a minor knee surgery that had been postponed until now.
In late February van der Poel got back on the home trainer, and some days later he travelled to Spain where he spent six weeks training and building up his form around the Calpe area. He admits he wasn't confident that his preparation would allow him to be at a good level for the classics, however training has gone well and has given him back some confidence: “I didn’t really expect to get to the classics, because the progress was really slow, but then it started to go well. And then the last two weeks I made some really good steps which I and the team didn’t really expect”.
Van der Poel is still, as reported recently, racing the Settimana Coppi e Bartali next week in order to get back some form still in time of the cobbled monuments that will come in April, choosing to pass on the first races of the World Tour classics block of late March: "I hope I will be there at the starting line and try to get the best out of it”.
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- you are a hero
maria2024202422-11-2024 - It happens all to often. My crashes over time have yielded a broken neck, broken back, broken left leg, crush pelvis, three broken collarbones, broken right arm and I've even lost a rib. Somehow I still train and do some races every year, mainly time trials these days.awp22-11-2024
- In Italy you have few days, no more than 10 days.maria2024202422-11-2024
- Thank you, I don't know it.maria2024202422-11-2024
- Danish guy here. We have up to 6 monthsspock12322-11-2024
- Yeah I thought also he will race the Tour as well if Tim Wellens not feeling good.
James2631822-11-2024 - is it normal in Denmark not to have a name for the baby after 2 month of his birth? how is the baby officially registered in the municipality/commune? is it not immediate?maria2024202422-11-2024
- Convicted of? Didn't need to be convicted. He confessed. But he was guilty of fraud, racketeering, bribery, drug smuggling, threating witnesses, and extortion.Sweep22-11-2024
- And Lance is regularly at his side. I want to puke each time I see them together.dabman21-11-2024
- WADA had no issues with looking the other way when Lance tested positive. Sorry WADA but you lack credibility.dabman21-11-2024