On Sunday, the pro men will head out for the battle for the rainbow jersey at the road worlds. Tadej Pogačar is the odds-on favourite, but can Mathieu van der Poel spoil the parade and defend his crown?
Mathieu van der Poel put the finishing touches on his World Championship form last week at the Tour of Luxembourg. A form that has been meticulously fine-tuned by Alpecin-Deceuninck, designed to deliver him the one super day needed to defend his world title on Sunday. “We have confidence,” Christoph Roodhooft, Alpecin-Deceuninck team manager, said in an interview with WielerFlits.
Van der Poel’s had a good showing at the recent Tour of Luxembourg.
“Mathieu’s race was solid,” Roodhooft said. “We couldn’t control those illnesses. Of course, it wasn’t pleasant. With Søren and Jimmy in the mix, we might have been strong enough to consolidate Mathieu’s lead in the final stage. But the young Jente Michels had to step up to a role he’s not used to, and without guidance.”
As for Van der Poel himself, he said his form is there. “Did he need that stage win in the opening stage? He performed very well, and at that finish, he had enough power and explosiveness to make a difference,” Roodhooft said about the Dutchman’s first win since Paris-Roubaix. “That was, of course, nice. It had been a while since he last won. But to say that he absolutely needed that win—no, not really.”
Many fans have noticed that the reigning world champion is looking slimmer than ever. He even said that he had shed some weight in order to better compete on the hilly course in Zurich.
“I think that’s logical,” said Roodhooft. “He’s a bit leaner than he usually is in the spring, that’s true. Is that unusual? It’s part of the effort to be in top form for this very specific one-day race, which is what a World Championship is.”
You can watch the 2024 road worlds on FloBikes.com.
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