"You cannot consider a Tour de France without a stage victory as successful for Mathieu van der Poel" admits Alpecin-Deceuninck boss Christoph Roodhooft

Alpecin-Deceuninck haven't been quite about Mathieu van der Poel's plans for the 2024 Tour de France, with the Grand Tour being mostly used as preparation for the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris. There are however, a few certain stages the world champion will target.

"You cannot consider a Tour without a stage victory as successful for Mathieu van der Poel," admits Alpecin-Deceuninck boss Christoph Roodhooft in conversation with Algemeen Dagblad. "That is the minimum. Simple. He will try to ride an attractive Tour de France. Mathieu will want to show himself, have fun and that means racing."

With only a limited number of race days in legs during the 2024 season, van der Poel will at least be coming into the Tour de France fresh. "He's also only done seven road races this year. As with all the things he looks forward to, you automatically get to see an attractive Van der Poel. Just like in the spring," Roodhooft explains with optimism.

Given the growing nature of the general classification riders to dominate everything on offer at the Grand Tours, Roodhooft admits van der Poel's success isn't solely down to himself. "In the Tour de France, classification riders count double. That is just the way it is in those weeks and ultimately that is logical. This is the time of year and the race in which the public is most interested in Vingegaard. That is the reality," Roodhooft concludes, with the gravel stage in Troyes being especially at the forefront of Alpecin-Deceuninck's mind. "It's a beautiful stage and without bad luck he can't be beat there."

Van der Poel's secondary role at the 2024 Tour de France will be to work alongside Alpecin-Deceuninck teammate, Jasper Philipsen in the bunch sprints. Last year, the combination proved incredibly successful with Philipsen taking home four stage wins and the Green Jersey. Same again this time around?