Mathieu van der Poel explains why he just couldn't make his mark in the hectic gravel stage

Mathieu van der Poel finished eleventh in the exciting gravel stage of the Tour de France, and he was disappointed afterwards. "It went quite well. However, the race situation was difficult. I knew the breakaway could stay away, and that turned out to be the case in the end," Van der Poel said to IDLProCycling.com among others.

The standout rider from Alpecin-Deceuninck was caught up in the race situation. Consequently, he had to take chances in the finale. "There wasn't much else to do. You know that the GC teams will push hard on those sections, after which it slows down. There wasn't much you could do then. Towards the end, we managed to break away with a good group," he referred to the covert elite group that included Michael Matthews and Biniam Girmay.

"I think everyone was pretty much on the limit. It was a very tough day due to all those accelerations. It's a shame," said the disappointed world champion, who was positive about the cooperation within that group, which ultimately finished one minute behind the leading group. "It worked out reasonably well, but I think everyone was just on the edge. It was a really tough race, especially because of all those accelerations. Even in the peloton, it was full gas on every section. You feel that towards the end."

What can we expect from the world champion for the remainder of this Tour?

Van der Poel is reasonably satisfied with his form, although he hasn't hit top form yet. "It wasn't super, but not bad either. I'm glad I gave it a try. It was a bit locked down, and the gap was too big to try something. We still managed to get away, but the deficit was still too large."

Although the result didn't materialize, Van der Poel thoroughly enjoyed the gravel stage. "I thought it was fantastic. I don't know about the others, but I thought it was great. Some sections were right on the edge. I don't mind that too much, but sometimes they were quite loose," he said. Now, Van der Poel gets to enjoy a rest day. He hopes to build towards his peak form in the second week. "I still need a few tough days. Stages like these. I do feel that I'm progressing. I'm reasonably happy about that, but I had hoped to perform a bit better in the first week," Van der Poel added, showing self-criticism.

"On a scale of one to ten, my form? Maybe a seven," the 29-year-old from Kapellen also rated his fitness. "There's still some work to do, but I'm satisfied! I'm definitely sure that including gravel in the Tour should be possible. It was really beautiful. Except for a few sections, it was all quite manageable. The first part of the day was tougher than expected too. There were more altitude meters than I anticipated. Overall, I have a good feeling about this stage, despite the disappointing result."