"What can you do with his type of rider in the Tour?" - Mathieu van der Poel's father Adrie notices lack of stages for true classics specialists

Mathieu van der Poel went to the Tour de France with the ambition to win a stage himself and contribute to the success of his Alpecin-Deceuninck teammate Jasper Philipsen in the bunch finishes. While the latter goal goes relatively well with two stages to Philipsen's name, Van der Poel himself is still yet to even enter the top 10 in a stage and the third week won't present the Dutchman with many opportunities to turn the tides either.

How does the world champion deal with the situation? "It's tiring, but in a nice way. We have already won, so from my point of view the Tour can no longer be ruined for us," thinks Mathieu's father Adrie van der Poel. "I think it will only become clear in the coming week. That was the case last year too, when he was really growing. It was not an easy Tour, with changeable weather. Now it is first a matter of surviving for the coming tough stages," he said in Café Koers.

Van der Poel himself noted that it is difficult to force something, which his father agrees with. "What can you do with his type of rider in the Tour? Okay, he was still useful in the sprint for Jasper, but your own chance is minimal if you make a Tour that looks like this. You can also see that with other riders, who - anonymous is a big word - cannot do their thing."

Mathieu doesn't mind anymore, his father thinks. "I think he's accepted it. He knows the ambitions of the team going to the Tour. The green jersey was taken away a bit by that disqualification, after which it was a fight for that stage win. That's not easy either, because there are a lot of people struggling who don't have much business being there," is his view on the hectic sprint approach.