Mathieu van der Poel showed once again why he is one of the best. In the super-thrilling finale (like that was wild) of Stage 4 at Tirreno-Adriatico, the Dutch rider stayed calm in the chaos of a flat sprint, executing his move perfectly. “I may have launched my sprint a bit early, but fortunately I could hold it,” van der Poel said.
On the Tortoreto, just over 10 km from the finish, van der Poel stayed totally glued to Matteo Jorgenson, Wout van Aert’s go-to-guy.
Despite a grueling day and high speeds, he conserved energy and waited for the decisive moment. “The stage suited me, but it was already a tough day because of the strong breakaway,” he said.
Van der Poel’s gamble paid off. He timed the sprint perfectly, reacting to competitors and the wind. “I was lucky to be able to take a risk because of my earlier stage win,” he said to Sporza. The double stage winner now looks ahead confidently to the rest of the Spring Classics. It should be noted his pal, Tadej Pogacar has been doing more recons than you’d expect for MvdP’s beloved Paris-Roubaix. That wiley Slovenian seems keen to add The Hell Of The North to his palmares.
Next up for Pogi is a little race in Italy called Milano-Sanremo. After that, he’s got Ronde Van Vlaanders and then Liège–Bastogne–Liège. Then the arm warmers are put away and it’s Tour de France prep time with The Tour de Romandie and Tour de Suisse.
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