Mathieu van der Poel's coaches knew enough after his complaints: "Science will know more than I do"

"I don't know. I work very hard, and I think the coaches in the team have a good understanding of how my body works. This year was somewhat of a question mark for me because I would have liked to have Paris-Nice or Tirreno-Adriatico in my legs. The level I reached now might have been the best I've ever achieved. After last year's World Championship, I also know I can improve through training, but it's always a tricky combination. Science knows more than I do, I'm afraid. Of course, I'm happy about it."

"I think so. My winter went smoothly, which obviously makes a big difference. I'm still growing as a rider, and I enjoy that."

"Somewhat. I didn't feel optimal this week, even in training. But it's the races that count. They always tell me I perform better when I complain a lot, and this week I did complain a lot." (laughs)

"No, not really. I never make a plan for the race; I just try to anticipate what happens. In my opinion, you can make a hundred plans, but if you're not in position, you still can't launch an attack. Once I was at the front, things moved quickly. With this race, after the Tiegemberg, you can't make a difference anymore, so I went all out to the top of the Oude Kwaremont. That made the race as hard as possible."

"There was a bit more wind, which made it somewhat easier. But I think it was mainly due to the Taaienberg, where the group stayed together. I was also impressed by Lidl-Trek, though I've been impressed by their classics team for a while now. As a team, they were stronger than everyone, so that was quite something."

"He rode a bit defensively, which I found disappointing. But, of course, he had just come back from a high-altitude training camp, where he worked hard for next week and the week after."

Did you catch what happened on the Paterberg?

"I didn't know there had been a fall, and at that moment, I was already launching my attack. It's much easier in the gutter, so that was a crucial point. When I reached the top alone, they told me he had fallen and that I had a twenty-second lead. From that moment, I pushed hard, but Wout made a strong comeback. Fortunately, I was able to hold him off. I was doing high wattages, so I knew he had to be on his limit too. I knew I had to break him on the Karnemelkbeekstraat. It was as if his finish line was on my wheel; he had nothing to lose."

"No, not at all. He's mentally very strong, as he proved once again. He knows that there's a new race next week, with new opportunities. That's how I approach races, too, so I don't think this will bother him."

"Meh, it's not that big of a deal. I've won the Tour of Flanders before even after performing poorly in this race. But of course, I wanted to win this race because I had never won it before. So, in that sense, it was important."

"Quite often, but I've always been somewhat capable of this. It's not fun to train because you can completely exhaust yourself with efforts like these. But it pays off, so it really does pay off."

"I train those regularly too. Not every training session, of course, but now and then, I can push deep during these efforts in training. Yet, I find it impossible to go as deep in the races."

"This race is so tough, but if you're at the front with the whole team, you can make a difference. Lidl-Trek showed that."

"We don't know yet. I'm keeping an eye on the weather; I might go to Spain."

"We were discussing that. If E3 and Wevelgem didn't go as well as expected, we thought it better to schedule an extra race day. But I don't think it will be necessary, so there's a higher chance I won't ride.

"I'm not necessarily focused on that, but it will probably happen on its own, right? It's already great to win in this jersey."