"We are not all called Tadej Pogacar" - Thijs Zonneveld understands Mathieu van der Poel's choice to end season before Il Lombardia

This weekend, we're set for a mouth-watering showdown between Tadej Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and more at the season's final monument... Il Lombardia. Notably absent from the fight though, will be Mathieu van der Poel, who looks to have ended his campaign following his recent Gravel World Championships victory.

Having looked so good just a week or so ago though, could it have been possible for the Alpecin-Deceuninck superstar to push forward for Il Lombardia before ending his season? In his podcast In het Wiel, Dutch ex-pro turned expert analyst Thijs Zonneveld gives his thoughts on the debate.

"With the weight Van der Poel is giving now, you would think, pull on until the Il Lombardia," Zonneveld, who also competed alongside his Dutch compatriot at the recent Gravel World Championships, begins his assessment. "But I admit: that's very much thinking from the sidelines. We are now two weeks after his big goal, the World Championship, and somewhere the decompression also comes and you collapse. We are not all called Tadej Pogacar."

Zonneveld also believes that Il Lombardia might be a step too far for Van der Poel anyway given its renown as the climbers' monument. "He competed once and came 10th," the Dutchman recalls. "But he was beaten by a rider like George Bennett by six minutes. So I can well understand why he is not at the start here."

"Riders like Van Aert and Van der Poel have more chance in Liège-Bastogne-Liège than in Il Lombardia, where you just encounter 13-kilometre climbs," the analyst concludes. "And especially now that Pogacar is competing, Van der Poel's choice is completely understandable."