Van der Poel waives original preparation for Tour de France: ‘It’s nice to be able to gain rhythm in Belgium’

Mathieu van der Poel’s original plan was to start again in the Tour of Switzerland after his successful spring, but according to WielerFlits, the winner of Milan-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix will see that. Van der Poel opts for a build-up via Dwars door het Hageland, Tour of Belgium and the Dutch National Championships on the road.

The medium writes that Van der Poel wanted to wait for the course for the Dutch National Championships before agreeing to participate. The NK is being organized in Limburg this year and Van der Poel likes the course. He hopes to wear the red-white-blue for the third time in his career. It is the last race before Van der Poel wants to continue his good year in the Tour de France.

Tour of Belgium

Van der Poel therefore waives the Tour of Switzerland, where no ideal course has been mapped out for him. “For the next three weeks we will be preparing for the Tour de France in La Plagne. Then it is good to insert a few races afterwards to gain some competition rhythm”, says the protagonist himself.

“I am delighted to be able to do that in Belgium. Both Dwars door het Hageland and the Tour of Belgium are races that appeal to me. With my background in cyclo-cross, I must be able to play a significant role in Dwars door het Hageland. In the Tour of Belgium I find a number of guys from our Tour selection, including Jasper Philipsen. We will see what we can do for each other.”