Star opponents are scouting talented Paul Magnier's Strava numbers ahead of the classics: "Van der Poel had seen that and was apparently impressed"

So far in his young career, Paul Magnier mainly profiled himself as a powerful sprinter, but with his recent showing at a hilly Figueira Champions Classic (1.Pro), where he hung on to a select group of 20 riders, the Soudal - Quick-Step rider showed that he's not to be taken lightly with view to upcoming classics.

After all, the big names have already noticed Magnier's immense talent, he tells Het Nieuwsblad: "Tim Merlier says that as a rider I resemble Wout van Aert, but I prefer the class of Van der Poel. I have never spoken to Van der Poel, but he has already sent a message to Tim about the wattages I was pedaling."

Van der Poel was impressed, but also already mapped out a tactic... "Someone on Twitter had checked out my wattages on Strava, Van der Poel had seen that and he was apparently impressed. He let Tim know that he would drop me before it came to a sprint between the two of us, haha."

It's not so common that a professional rider is openly sharing their power numbers on Strava. So in that sense, Magnier is an exception. Keeping your wattages a secret can be a tactical (dis-)advanatage, but Magnier doesn't make a big deal of that. After all, his inspiration - Mathieu van der Poel - didn't hide either. And it certainly didn't hurt him on the results side. "When I started racing, I loved being able to see Mathieu van der Poel's wattages."

Some teams are very strict in this regard, but with the Wolfpack, he found a team that's open to interactions with fans. "I know that there are many teams that forbid their riders, while fans and amateur cyclists enjoy seeing what professionals can do. At Soudal - Quick-Step, they certainly don't make a problem of it."