Skipping Tour de France was never a realistic option for Van der Poel insists Alpecin-Deceuninck boss: "Mathieu is more than intelligent enough to see that himself"

Despite his numerous displays of brilliance in multiple disciplines over the years, Mathieu van der Poel has never really managed to show the best of himself at the Tour de France. Although a stage win and six days in yellow back in 2021 are nothing to be sniffed at, for someone of Van der Poel's quality, he Tour de France career since has been a little disappointing.

For the last two editions of the Tour de France, Van der Poel has been operating primarily as a super-domestique / leadout man for teammate Jasper Philipsen, bringing much success to the Alpecin-Deceuninck team in the process. After Van der Poel recently spoke of how he doesn't really love riding the French Grand Tour, speculation abounded that the Dutch superstar could skip the race entirely in 2025 to focus on other goals. Following the release of his racing calendar for 2025 earlier this week though, those rumours have been proven misplaced.

"Whose favourite race is the Tour?," asks Alpecin-Deceuninck boss Philip Roodhooft to Het Laatste Nieuws, laughing off the idea that his team would head to the Tour de France without their star rider. "Of course a Giro d'Italia or Vuelta a Espana is more relaxed. But the Tour is the biggest of the three, a stage win there has more impact than in Italy or Spain."

According to Roodhooft, Van der Poel's presence is also a benefit to the race itself, not only the Alpecin-Deceuninck team. "Organizer ASO also benefits from top athletes like Mathieu showing up at the start with ambition," he explains. "In that sense, several attractive stages effectively fit his profile perfectly. So do it."

And the despite fact that Van der Poel is open about the fact he doesn't love the Tour de France, Roodhooft insists his team leader is realistic enough to realise he was always going to race the Grand Tour in 2025. "Does it take a lot of convincing? Mathieu is more than intelligent enough to see that himself," Roodhooft concludes. "It will not jeopardize his autumn goal (MTB World Championships)."