A Grand Slam for van der Poel? Father Adrie is optimistic, but knows: "Organizers keep making their races tougher"

Winning all five Monuments is also known as a 'Grand Slam,' with victories in Milan-Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and the Tour of Lombardy. Pogacar is missing Paris-Roubaix and Milan-Sanremo from his list of achievements, while van der Poel is missing Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Tour of Lombardy.

Although the latter two classics are real climbers' races, father Adrie van der Poel thinks his son Mathieu can win them; he told Bici. Pro. It takes a good day and a bit of luck. The other three classics suit him better. They are more in line with his qualities.

According to his father, Adrie, winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 1988, it will not be easy to win the two Monuments. "He could win; he has every chance, but the course is a significant factor. Organizers like to make their races tougher and tougher, reducing the number of favorites and those who can win. Lombardy is a beautiful race but incredibly difficult. That rules out a lot of riders, classic riders, from the battle for success."

That's how 65-year-old Van der Poel looks at it: nowadays, only two or three riders really have a chance of winning the Tour of Lombardy. "When I was racing, fifty riders could start with a chance of winning. That made it more unpredictable and more interesting."

Nevertheless, Adrie van der Poel remains optimistic, although some changes must be made. He does not completely rule out his son's chances. "No, I'm just saying that races like the Monuments should be a fair fight for everyone. They shouldn't be made too difficult, and there should be more room for the teams' strategies."

Besides thinking that organizers need to change something about the race routes, Mathieu's dad thinks his son will also have to change his training. "He's only done Lombardy once, in 2020. He finished tenth, then. He might be able to go for it under the right conditions. He needs to get to the ideal weight and maybe lose some like he did last year before the world championships when he finished on the podium in a tough race."

The former pro rider continues: "It would be important to go to the Vuelta to prepare him and then ride a few hilly races with lots of altitude changes so he can get used to it. It would be very difficult on Pogacar's terrain, but we can try."

Is it more likely that Mathieu will win the two remaining classics or that Pogacar will win Sanremo and Roubaix? "I think it's a little easier for Tadej than for Mathieu. This year's results in Sanremo and Roubaix show he is also very close to the top in those two races. Without Mathieu, I think he would have won those. Objectively speaking, he is the one who is capable of winning a Grand Slam."