PRESS CONFERENCE: “Riders like Tadej and Remco also go for finishes like this” - Mathieu van der Poel knows Montjuic is no simple Tour de France chance
Cycling
Mathieu van der Poel enters the 2026 Tour de France with early opportunities, a familiar green jersey mission alongside Jasper Philipsen and a Barcelona opening that could suit Alpecin-Premier Tech immediately. CyclingUpToDate were present at the Dutchman’s pre-Tour press conference to document every word.
The opening team time trial has already shaped Van der Poel’s build-up, with the 30-year-old admitting he has spent more hours on the bike than usual while preparing with the full team for stage 1. After that comes a stage 2 finish in Barcelona, where the Montjuic circuit offers the kind of explosive terrain that would once have looked like an obvious Van der Poel target.
The complication, as Van der Poel himself pointed out, is that modern GC stars now chase those same finishes. Asked whether the Barcelona stage suited him or the climbers more, he namechecked Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel as riders who have changed the equation on those uphill, punchy finales.
Van der Poel also spoke about his personal news, the heat expected in the opening week, his aim to help Philipsen fight for green, the possibility of combining road and mountain bike at the LA Olympics and his feeling that Classics-style Tour stages still suit him best.
Full Mathieu van der Poel press conference Q&A
Question: Mathieu, at the Tour de Suisse you did an amazing time trial. Have you been working more than usual, looking ahead to stage 1 in Barcelona?
Mathieu van der Poel: Yeah, we trained a bit more with the whole team because of the first stage with the team time trial. So it also meant for me spending more hours on the bike than I usually do. It was nice to work on this with the team and hopefully we can show a good result on Saturday.
Question: Mathieu, congratulations with the news you shared with us this week. Are you on a pink cloud?
Mathieu van der Poel: Of course we are very happy with the news, but I think the pink cloud is after it is born. I don’t know. Hopefully it will help me. I think last year the Tour started really good for us, but unfortunately Jasper had a crash and I became sick, so hopefully we can do it again this year, but then keep it going until Paris.
Question: Mathieu, stage 2 finishes here in Barcelona with a very explosive finish. It is slightly different from what they do in Catalonia, but do you feel like you can win that stage, or do you believe it is more suited to the climbers?
Mathieu van der Poel: Yeah, it will be very difficult. I said this in Suisse as well. I think nowadays with riders like Tadej as well, and Remco, who also go for finishes like this, it will be hard. But of course we are going to try it and see how it goes.
Question: We are expecting a bit of a heatwave again in France next week. Can you explain a bit about your heat adaptation preparation?
Mathieu van der Poel: For me it is always a bit of a struggle, but with a lot of heat training I did, and also the warm weather in Spain, for sure it will help me a little bit. But it will never be my favourite circumstance.
Question: Mathieu, what is your most important goal at this Tour, and how important is it that these first days are in Spain?
Mathieu van der Poel: I think the same goal as every year: try to win a stage and also help Jasper a little bit in his quest for the green jersey. It is just nice to have a start like this in a big city.
I think the first few stages can be interesting for us as a team, so hopefully, like I said, we can make it as successful as last year in the beginning.
Question: For this Grand Depart here in Barcelona, what are your sensations and what do you know about Barcelona as a city?
Mathieu van der Poel: I am really looking forward to starting in Barcelona. It is a beautiful city. We did some riding today, the scenery is nice, but I was never able to ride my bike in this area.
I hope there will be a lot of people and fans along the road. I hope to see Barcelona really bringing cycling and the Tour de France atmosphere. I am looking forward to a beautiful start here.
Question: You are teammates and you have a good relationship, but your objectives overlap a little bit. How would you describe your relationship, how close are you, and have you ever had a fight?
Mathieu van der Poel: We never had a real fight, I think, so far. So all good.
Question: Mathieu, you have said that you are targeting LA before ending your career. What do the Olympics mean to you in general, winning a title, and do you plan to compete both in mountain bike and on the road?
Mathieu van der Poel: I think the Olympics is something that has grown in our sport over the past years, so it is quite big. I have been to LA to visit some sponsors a few months ago, so I think it is a really nice course on the road side.
Mountain bike, of course, I did not see the course. But I think if it is possible, I would like to combine both. It is still far away, so we will see how it goes.
Question: Mathieu, you are partly French and you know the French public and French media are waiting for Paul Seixas at the Tour de France. What do you think about him and what do you expect from him?
Mathieu van der Poel: I think it is a smart decision for him to do the Tour. You never know what happens. I think he has shown he has the level to compete with the best as well, so I do not think he had a reason not to do it.
Let’s see. I think he is quite an exciting rider and he has already shown that he is really strong and capable of doing great things. I am looking forward to seeing what he can do in a three-week race like this.
Mathieu van der Poel in the Maillot Jaune
Question: Mathieu, when you go to the Tour de France, which revealed you to the general public, there is always a lot of impatience and desire around you. Is there the desire to be in France rather than in Spain, maybe?
Mathieu van der Poel: Yes, I think for me it is always special to come back to the Tour. I have beautiful memories too. Last year was very good before I fell ill.
We are motivated again with the whole team, with Jasper, to go for the green jersey. I think if we can start the first week like last year, it would be great. So we will try.
Question: You are considered one of the fantastic four, one of the big four. Does this label add any pressure on you when you race?
Mathieu van der Poel: No, I do not think so. I think it is really nice to be part of this generation of cyclists and it does not add any pressure.
I have had some good Tours and some bad ones, so hopefully this year will be a good one again. Like I already said a couple of times, I think we have a very nice team here, also with Jasper. Last year we started really well and were on the way for maybe another green jersey, so hopefully this year we can go for it again.
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Question: You trained on a circuit at Zolder for the team time trial. Can you tell us something about the strategy for Saturday?
Mathieu van der Poel: Of course, I do not think there is something special in the strategy. It is just trying to get as fast as possible to the last two climbs and the technical section.
It will be up to me to arrange the finish line, but I expect some other teams will do the same. Of course, we do not have a GC rider, which makes it a bit nicer for us maybe not to have one. But nowadays the level of the guys going for GC is also so high, so I think they are also the favourites on a stage like this.
Question: Mathieu, at the Tour de France we have many different profiles of stages, from mountains to flat ones and everything in between. What would your ideal stage look like? What needs to be included?
Mathieu van der Poel: That is a difficult question. Of course, you need to have the legs in the first place, but I think the stages that look sort of like a Classics race would suit me best.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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