No Spain, but Belgium for Mathieu van der Poel: Tadej Pogacar travels to Flanders well ahead of schedule

Van der Poel won the E3 Saxo Classic impressively on Friday, but despite being in top form, he did not allow himself to be tempted to show that form in the Ghent-Wevelgem race, which Mads Pedersen eventually won. "We discussed it. Last year wasn't bad, but I want to be good in Flanders. By skipping Gent-Wevelgem, we think we can get the best result there," the Dutch rider explained after the E3.

"Especially after the weather conditions in Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-Sanremo, and now here too. Staying healthy is the challenge now, but that will be the case for everyone coming from Tirreno-Adriatico, Paris-Nice, and Milan-Sanremo," said Van der Poel with a slight hint of a cold in his voice. The Dutch rider chose not to travel to Spain because the expected weather conditions in Belgium this week are also favorable. On Monday, he completed a training session with teammate Quinten Hermans, as he showed on Instagram.

We did not see the other top favorite, Pogacar, in action last weekend. The UAE Emirates-XRG rider had originally planned to participate in the E3 Saxo Classic and Gent-Wevelgem but ultimately skipped both races to join Paris-Roubaix. Normally, Pogacar - who will arrive in Belgium on Tuesday - does his recon on Wednesday and his press interview on Thursday, after which he can entirely focus on Sunday's race for two days.

Pogacar has been training from his home base in Monaco, where he has been preparing for the following two Monuments.