"Pogacar was even stronger than last year": Mathieu van der Poel's brother indicates his numbers were as good as usual
Cycling
Mathieu van der Poel suffered a painful defeat at the hands of Tadej Pogacar in last weekend's Milano-Sanremo. For three years in a row, the Slovenian has been unable to break through his Dutch opponents defenses... until the race context had changed. And with it also the outcome of the 2026 edition.
At the end of the day, the crash that occured just few kilometers before Cipressa may have caused more harm than the final ascents on their own. All pre-race favourites had to play catch with front of the race - and that played perfectly into Pogacar's hand, Mathieu's older brother David van der Poel believes.
"The effort was much longer; instead of 8 minutes on the Cipressa, it was now the Cipressa plus three or four kilometers," he said on the Vals Plat podcast, referring primarily to Tadej Pogacar's crash, which changed the finale.
Pogacar's crash caused 'a big difference' according to Van der Poel. "Then you're talking about an effort of 15 minutes, instead of 8," said David. "I think Mathieu might have pushed himself a bit too hard there. He said that the times on the Cipressa and Poggio were practically the same as last year's - his, that is. And the power outputs too, so Pogacar was simply even stronger than last year."
Pogacar is an anomaly
Van der Poel was able to counter Pogacar's initial acceleration on Cipressa, forming a powerful trio with fellow off-road star Tom Pidcock. However David already spotted cracks in his brother's armor there. And the deal was sealed on Poggio where the pace of Pogacar and Pidcock was simply too high to accept for the two-time winner of La Primavera.
Yet the Alpecin-Premier Tech could not have done a whole lot more, as his power data suggest: "I had the feeling that Mathieu wasn't that good on the Cipressa, but judging by the speeds and climbing times, that wasn't actually the case. Despite everything, Pogacar rode up even faster, with less favorable winds. Another level up," David concludes.
Tadej Pogacar, Tom Pidcock, Mathieu van der Poel on Cipressa
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.
claps 4visitors 4
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- 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
- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
- "was a headliner at the Tour de France" Nobody cared about Piddie. Only rivals that were there for Pogi, Jonas, Remco, Sexias, Lipo, Del Toro and they were all expected to lose. Piddie was not even in any conversation.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- exactly, he had an amazing season, but with these overstatements they don‘t do him good.Ketterechts08-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment