Niels Verdijck on Mathieu van der Poel: "He also realizes that he is somewhat in a luxurious position"

Mathieu van der Poel's final sprint at Milan-Sanremo was a sight to behold. His friend and training partner Niels Verdijck watched the remarkable spectacle and saw him secure the victory.

Verdijck commended van der Poel for overcoming elite cyclists on the De Koers is van Ons podcast. “You have a Pogacar that goes full on, and then you have to put gears like that again. It wasn't three pancakes in that wheel, so it really was a world achievement.”

He trains together with van der Poel, so knows that “If he's really okay, he'll make the right decisions at the right times. In addition, its acceleration remains very strong even after six to seven hours.”

Verdijck remains certain that Alpecin-Deceuninck is the right fit for him, in spite of what Jan Bakelants said not long ago. “He also realizes that he is somewhat in a luxurious position. Not as Jan Bakelants described it , but that team has grown partly thanks to Mathieu. He liked to have Kragh Andersen and Hermans there, so that happens,” he concluded.