Mathieu van der Poel to race Primus Classic before travelling to Worlds - "I don't know if I'm at the favorites level"

Mathieu van der Poel is on his way to the World Championships, but before making the travel to Australia he has decided to take part in the Primus Classic to further prime his form ahead of the big race.

“The hard work is done. I don't really need these race anymore, but such a Citadel an Namen [where the GP de Wallonie ended] is just a bit different than going deep in training. That race hardness, that's what I do it for," he told Het Nieuwsblad after winning the Belgian classic. Van der Poel has had little racing after the Tour de France, but this Wednesday's win showed he was on track for the Worlds where he will have good chances of succeeding.

“I'm not going to hide. I don't know if I'm at the favorites level because I haven't really raced against them anymore," he said however. He will not directly face the likes of Wout van Aert, Tadej Pogacar and Julian Alaphilippe in the run-up to the next week, but he's gotten other references to eye out: "Girmay was otherwise good in Canada and he drove here too. Maybe that's a reference."

His change of plans also seen him change his travel plans, but to little difference. “I have changed my flight to be able to fly in business. That is a small investment, but it makes a difference if you can get off that plane fresher. So let's try that," he concluded.