Eager Mathieu van der Poel for European Championship: "Criterium in itself is also not difficult, but things get broken up as well"

Mathieu van der Poel will start as the go-to man after Wout van Aert dropped out of the race at the European Cycling Championships in Belgian Limburg. The Dutchman told IDLProCycling.com at the press event of the Dutch team in Sint-Truiden that he is looking forward to the continental title race.

The last time we saw Van der Poel in competition was the second-to-last stage of the Renewi Tour. He failed to start the final stage in and around Geraardsbergen with a knee injury, after which he traveled to Spain. Judging on the reels of cycling buddy Freddy Ovett, things went well there, and that confirmation followed Friday.

"It's going well. Together with the team, I think I made a good decision by dropping out of the Renewi Tour. During that time trial, where I almost fell, I hit my handlebars with my knee. After that, I was pretty sore, and the races after that were as well, so I did feel it wasn't one hundred percent. That's why we decided not to ride for two days, which was a good choice."

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Van der Poel knew from experience how to tackle knee issue

"Cycling slowly was possible, but it was mainly with forcing that it started to hurt," said Van der Poel, who knew how to deal with it. "I've had my share of knee problems already, so I felt it wasn't bad. But I might have made it worse if I had kept riding, including in Geraardsbergen."

"I feel good. I had an excellent training camp," said Van der Poel, who also trained uphill in Spain. Does that say anything for the European Championships? "Of course, I trained on climbing, but you also take a good level of form to the flat races. It will be difficult on this course anyway, but there are always possibilities."

"It wasn't immediately sure if I would ride this race because I might stay in Spain until Luxembourg," Van der Poel confessed. "But I wanted an extra day of racing, and it's also close to home. Besides, it's also certainly not the case that nothing is possible on this course. With a hard race, a lot is still possible."

He does not yet have the European champion's jersey in his collection, at least on the road. "And I also think it's an important race. I also think it is a beautiful jersey, and in recent years, it has become more important, and it is a championship."

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Van der Poel indicated to Moerenhout that he wants to help in sprint preparation

So, how should he approach the course in Belgian Limburg? "The loss of Wout is unfortunate, and I think he would have also wanted a hard race. But there will still be riders who want to race, although it looks like it will be a sprint. A bit of wind to race would still be nice, but the good sprinters here can do it after a hard race. Then I think of Jasper Philipsen and Olav Kooij, but there are others like that."

Van der Poel says he has no problem riding against his teammate at Alpecin-Deceuninck. "With Olav, we also have someone behind us to win a sprint. In the first place, I try to win myself, of course, but with the national coach, I have also indicated that I am certainly not worried about doing the lead-out yet. We still have strong men for the lead-out if the legs allow it. I do want to contribute my support to that."

"That Limburg loop will be the point where it's easiest to try something," he points out. "It's also not a very long race, and there will be high averages. We have a good team, but until the meeting, we are waiting to see what we will do." Van der Poel doesn't know the exact lap yet but has already cycled in the region. "I know roughly what to expect. The way you see it, it's not tough enough. However, a criterium in itself is also not difficult, and things get broken up as well. That's always possible on narrow roads," he concludes.