Mathieu van der Poel of Alpecin–Deceuninck is ready to race … well, maybe. He is set to race the Renewi Tour soon, his first race back after leaving the Tour de France early. The five-day stage race takes place in Belgium – and the former road world champion won overall five years ago.
“I have good memories of the Renewi Tour, especially my victory in 2020. Last year I was in a good position, until knee pain after a near-crash in the time trial unfortunately forced me to skip the final stage,” he on the race’s Instagram. “This summer I haven’t raced since abandoning the Tour de France so it’s a bit of a question how the form is. But the course suits me. Especially the stage finishing in Geraardsbergen on the third day is one I have marked in red.”
Mathieu van der Poel: ‘I sometimes wonder how the others recover so well’
Van der Poel was having a great 2025 Tour de France before getting sick. He won a stage, wore the yellow jersey – and went in an epic 171-km break with his teammate Jonas Rickaert. The duo rode through the heat – with Rickaert eventually getting dropped with 10 km to go. Then it was just MVDP versus the peloton. The sweat-caked Dutchman was caught with a heart-breaking 700 m to go – but it was an incredible race.
Rickaert, however, was rewarded for his brilliant ride as he tried to help launch his teammate to a victory. “Jonas had a dream to one day be on the Tour podium, for the combativity award. I was going to help him with that today,” he said.
Where does the name of the race come from? Great question. Renewi is a European waste management and recycling company — hence the name of the race.
The first stage of the Renewi Tour is Terneuzen to Breskens for a total of 182.6 km
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