PRESS CONFERENCE Mathieu van der Poel | Green Jersey not a goal and concerns over safety: "Making the bunch even bigger is a mistake"

One of the biggest superstars in the entire cycling world, Mathieu van der Poel is heading to the Tour de France for the 5th time in his career in 2025. Ahead of Saturday's Grand Depart, the Dutchman took part in a pre-race press conference on Thursday, where CyclingUpToDate was part of the assembled media.

Despite being a former stage winner and a former wearer of the Maillot Jaune, some believe Van der Poel has somewhat underachieved at the Tour de France, given his immense and undoubted quality. This time around though, with a very intriguing and Van der Poel friendly parcours on offer at the Tour, the Alpecin-Deceuninck star is well positioned to add to his Grand Tour stage winning tally.

A: Yeah, for sure — there are some opportunities. But of course, there are a lot of different riders here with different objectives. This first week will be hectic, but I think it’s a nice opening with lots of chances for our team.

A: Not really. We look at each stage individually. You never know what will happen in the ones before. But I do think there are quite a few exciting stages. There are lots of possibilities. We’ll just take it day by day.

A: Yeah, it’s nice to start not far from home — on roads close to Roubaix. It’s good to be here. Like I said, it’s going to be a very exciting first week of racing. Of course, I’m nervous, but everyone is nervous at the Tour de France. We’ll do our best.

A: It’s not a goal at the moment. I’d have to do the bunch sprints for that — and we have a clear goal there with Jasper. I don’t know how the Tour will unfold. But no, I didn’t start this Tour aiming for the green jersey.

A: Not really. This doesn’t change a lot. In the end, it’s always a bunch sprint — whether you add new features or not. Most of the time, it’s the riders’ behaviour that causes risk, which is normal because everyone’s fighting for the same position and there’s not enough space.

To really change things, the biggest impact would come from reducing the number of teams and riders. Making the bunch even bigger is a mistake. Less teams and less riders would make it safer.

A: It brings more stress. A big bunch will go to Montmartre. At the Olympics, it was a really small group. We’ll see what happens. I don’t think it’s bad for us, but I can understand why other riders aren’t big fans of the change.