Mathieu van der Poel is doing some of the final prep for his road worlds defense, and that includes the Renewi Tour in Belgium. The only problem is, he doesn’t think the races are hard enough for suitable preparation. Alpecin-Deceuninck has both him and Jasper Philipsen aiming for wins at the 5-day race.
“I had hoped for more difficult stages. We’ll have to make do with it. Only Sunday looks really tough. I’ll be able to test myself there. Stage 5, Sunday, is the one that features multiple climbs of the Muur de Geraardsbergen and other cobbled climbs—which could decide the overall classification,” he said to Het Nieuwsblad. “Sunday should suit me in particular. I will go for the stage win there.”
Following the Renewi Tour, the reigning world road and ‘cross champion will race the European Road Championships—also in Belgium. Then he will race the Tour of Luxembourg before heading to Switzerland to try and snag another rainbow jersey. “It is a nice end to my road season. I have not yet ridden in Luxembourg. I am looking forward to that,” he added.
The Renewi Tour has three flat stages for sprinters, as well as a time trial and the aforementioned hilly stage on Sunday. Luxembourg is also a five-day stage race.
Van der Poel will face some formidable challenges at the Road Worlds. The 273-km race in Zurich features several punchy climbs and is a big goal for Tadej Pogačar, as well as Remco Evenepoel.
Pogačar, after dominating the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France, is hoping to become the first male rider since Stephen Roche in 1987 to win cycling’s triple crown. Eddy Merckx is the only other male rider to accomplish that, back in 1974.
Evenepoel could also make history. He swept the Olympics, taking the time trial and road race. He is a huge favorite for the time trial and road race. No rider has ever won both Olympic road events and World Championship races, and it would make for an impressive accomplishment.
The 2024 Men’s Road World Championship is on September 29. You can watch it on Flobikes.com
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