"Sometimes I just need to be a little patient" - No luck or results for Mathieu van der Poel at the Tour de Suisse
Cycling
Mathieu van der Poel travelled to Switzerland where he is racing to prepare the Tour de France, however where he has not found opportunities to fight for a stage win. The Dutchman has not been allowed in breakaways whilst the stages have been attacked hard, above the pace he could hold on the climbs.
Stage 1 had him as a big favourite, but with Tadej Pogacar attacking with 70 kilometers to go on the day's hardest phase blew up the race, on terrain in which the Alpecin - Premier Tech rider could not keep up. Stage 2 saw the breakaway win, but the final sequence of climbs in the peloton was ridden at a very high pace from the very start, rendering the Dutchman's explosiveness useless in such a scenario.
No freedom to join winning breakaway
Stage 3 was a chance for the breakaway. But in the peloton, no-one had the interest of seeing van der Poel up front. "They reacted pretty aggressively when I went. So I decided pretty quickly to save my energy and go for the sprint," van der Poel shared with AD.
In a modest sprinter field, he would stand a chance. But the breakaway was victorious once again, with Jhonatan Narváez taking the win. "It’s a shame we fell just short. In the end, we still came close. I’d already given up hope a bit with 20 kilometers to go". Behind, van der Poel was third from the peloton; fifth in the stage.
“It was also less hot. That made me feel much better right away. I’m satisfied. On the climbs at the start of the stage, I was able to keep up without any problems".
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Van der Poel testing his form
Stage 5 with the high mountains will obviously be out of van der Poel's range. This Saturday's time trial not so much, where he can realistically aim for a strong result in a field that also does not feature many specialists. "The plan is to go all out again on Saturday. We’ll see how I feel".
But ultimately, van der Poel will leave the Tour de Suisse without any notable result, heading into the Tour de France. “It didn’t go as well as I’d hoped. We’ve also just come off a tough training camp, where we worked hard with the team. Everything went well there, but maybe I was feeling the effects of that. Sometimes I just need to be a little patient," he concluded.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- exactly, he had an amazing season, but with these overstatements they don‘t do him good.Ketterechts08-11-2026
- More to the point, it isn't his remaining goal.Renz08-11-2026
- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
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