On Saturday, the men will line up for the 2024 Olympic road race, and Mathieu van der Poel is ready for one of his big goals for the year. This isn’t his first Olympics—he raced in the MTB event, albeit briefly, at the 2020 Games in Tokyo. An early crash spoiled his chances of a medal; he decided against it early this year and focused solely on the road race.
The Olympic road race is different from regular pro races, due to the size of the teams and peloton.
The Olympics vs. a regular pro race
“With these small teams, it’s also a bit of a wait-and-see for me to see how it will unfold. But it does seem like it could be an uncontrolled race,” the Dutchman said to Wielerflits. “It depends on the legs, but I would say it’s an advantage for me. You have to stay alert at all times during the race. It could suddenly be over, and then you need to make sure you’re in the mix.”
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A rider like van der Poel will clearly be marked—the same could be said for Olympic TT gold medalist Remco Evenepoel, Wout van Aert, or Julian Alaphilippe. However, he feels no pressure being one of the main contenders for the win.
Controlling the race
“The favorite role is not too bad. In a regular pro race, it’s certainly more predictable. Then you have your own team to help control things, which is the big difference. But the goal remains the same,” he said. As far as his form, he mentioned that he came out of the Tour fresher than in 2023. “But that doesn’t mean I’ll have the same legs as I did at the World Championships in Glasgow. Every year is different. I’ve stuck to the preparation for Glasgow.”
The pro men will do a long loop before heading into Paris, where they will complete two finishing circuits, including a climb up Montmartre. He hasn’t yet done a recon but feels confident about the parcours.
“I’ve only seen the course in video footage. That should be sufficient, I think. Koos Moerenhout, the national coach, will do a reconnaissance of the local circuit, then I’ll have a better view of it.”
The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider thinks the course looks difficult as it is. “Especially with the small teams and the distance, it will certainly be challenging. It’s possible on Montmartre, but it has been before. Who knows, the race might be decided on the Montmartre climb; it looks like a grueling race,” he said. “I’m always happy with a long…
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