"These are good training sessions for the World Championships" - Wilco Kelderman on importance of Canadian classics ahead of the World Championships

Wilco Kelderman had a good test for legs in Canada. The two WorldTour classics showed the Dutch riders what he should work on wit view to the upcoming world cycling championships in Zurich, Switzerland.

"It was a tough race," he told WielerFlits after the GP Montreal. "UAE Emirates made it very difficult by riding hard every time on the long climb. You can also see who is the strongest, but behind that it is the race. I felt good. I tried to ride away a few more times, but at the end it didn't work. Tactically it is easy when Tadej Pogacar is involved, but when he went it became physically even more difficult."

At the upcoming World Championships, Kelderman will be presented with a local circuit, just like in Canada. "I wasn’t really thinking about that. Of course you try to put in some extra hours, but these are good training sessions for the World Championships. Just a bonus. I feel really good. It’s just that the GP in Quebec was just too easy. I was good in Montreal. It’s just that I try it a few times and then I just didn’t have anything in the sprint. But that doesn’t matter."

It is clear that the Visma | Lease a Bike rider will take on a supporting role in Switzerland. "Zurich is just going to be very tough. I hope Mathieu is okay to compete uphill. Then we will see how I can help him in the final and how we are going to play it out. But first I want to ride a good classification at the Tour of Luxembourg."