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PPerhaps the most enduring image of the racing season so far is Mathieu van der Poel standing at the finish line of the Tour of Flanders with mud splattering his dry white world champion jersey, raising his bike to the sky like an offering to the gods. . Here is a rider who is so dominant in a world-class field that he has time to run for showmanship, and somehow still manages to lift his bike like paper after a brutal ride.
It was, as it turned out, the last drop of energy.
“It was one of the hardest races I’ve ever done,” Van der Poel said. He was asked if he could repeat the feat at Paris-Roubaix a week later. “I can’t think about Roubaix yet. I’m really, really f****d.
He would complete the double in similar fashion, becoming only the third man this century to win Flanders and Roubaix in the same year. Only nine people in the history of the sport have won more than six Monument races and, aged 29, there is plenty of time to climb the list.
“Now it seems clear that I can win another one, but you never know what happens in a race, of course, with an injury or…” said Van der Poel. The Independent. He scratched his head for anything that could stop him, and he couldn’t come up with much. “You only get one chance a year to win every Monument, but I have a few more in me. So we’ll see where I can end up.
Both races were won with typically aggressive solo attacks that obliterated the field. Van der Poel is a master of this, feeling the moment – the situation, the weather, the distance, the feeling on his feet, the look in his rival’s eyes – and knowing when to go.
“It’s more art than science,” he said. “I never plan my attacks. I always feel and how the race develops. It’s just an instinct to choose the moment, to feel the race a bit, and I’m one of the strengths. Then basically just go down and run fast.”
Now the Tour de France is in sight and, for one of the greatest riders of all time and a multidiscipline world champion, his wardrobe is strange. Van der Poel has only won one stage in three years riding the Tour.
There are some important caveats. He’s had plenty of help along the way, sending team-mate Jasper Philipsen into a sprint on the silver plate while looking calm, you suspect he could have won on his own if he tried. The photo will show Philipsen celebrating when in the background taken, a little out of focus, there is Van der Poel, gliding through the line without breaking a sweat.
Grand Tours are team games and Van der Poel is a committed team player, sometimes taking on the role of luxury sidekick, like the world’s highest paid delivery man. Instead, he was a sporting demigod who barely made a footnote in the greatest racing history book. Doesn’t that bother him?
“Yes, of course. I would love to win the second one. But it became very difficult. At course (the route) is getting more and more difficult, so the possibilities are limited in the Tour de France. There are also many drivers who can win one but the goal is to try and win the second stage.
He has come to past Tours with one eye on the upcoming Olympics or world championships, and has twice left the race early to prepare. This year will be different: Van der Poel is committed to riding the entire Tour, so much so that he chose not to ride in this summer’s Olympic mountain bike race, which is scheduled just eight days after the Tour ends. He was always the favorite for the gold.
Illness and lack of freshness also played a role in Van der Poel’s incomplete Tour de France story, but this time he felt sharp. Amazingly, the first stage of the Tour – which starts in Florence – will be only the eighth race of the whole year, and it is a very crippling and difficult route that it is easy to imagine that he wants to hold on to the yellow jersey. .
The gravel road on stage nine also seems to suit his skills, but Van der Poel has not yet planned his moment of attack. “You don’t know what stage you’re going to be in or when an opportunity will come, and you don’t know how you’re going to race at that stage. So you have to be open minded to take the opportunity when it comes.
His bromance with Philipsen is one of the main storylines in the second series of the popular Netflix series Tour de France: Unchained. The duo is painted as the jocks of the peloton, bad boys who don’t care about accidents, rules or fines. It is an embellishment of the truth, though they definitely show a cruel streak.
“It’s great,” Van der Poel said of the partnership. “He’s really focused before the sprint, of course, which is good, but for the rest, he’s just a very relaxed person and doesn’t bother too much.”
Van der Poel will not watch the new series. “I haven’t watched the first series so I don’t think I’ll watch the second series,” he laughs. “That’s one of the reasons I don’t watch it, of course. I see with Formula One, there are also some drivers who don’t like how they exit the series. Of course they try to create drama and create some characters.
Van der Poel made headlines this spring when he signed a 10-year contract with Canyon. Lucrative partnerships between well-known brands and riders with star power are becoming more common in the peloton, although Van der Poel’s deal is the longest and most interesting.
At the same time, he signed a five-year contract with the team, Alpecin-Deceuninck. That contract, combined with Canyon’s deal – five years as a rider, five as an ambassador – suggests he plans to retire at age 34.
“(Canyon) has been part of my journey and I’ve always loved bikes, so it was an easy decision. Also with the ambassador role, I won’t be a cyclist for another 10 years, but I want to still be an ambassador for the brand great at retirement.
Long sponsorship deals are not always directly at the top of the sport, as riders tend to move freely between different teams working with different manufacturers. But Van der Poel has been with Belgium-based Alpecin-Deceuninck all his career and plans to see out today.
It’s easy to see why Canyon wanted Van der Poel as its face, as he lifted his bike over his head like a trophy at the finish line in Flanders. Google searches and sales of the bikes he rides soar after the major win. Now, after three years of pain, distraction and serving others, Van der Poel is ready to build his own brand in the Tour de France.
