Roodhooft has confidence in World Championship performance Van der Poel: "Too much talking about his weight"

Can Mathieu van der Poel withstand or not on the relatively difficult climbing course in Zurich? It is the question many a cycling fan would like an answer to, and the answer will follow during the afternoon of Sunday, Sept. 29. Alpecin-Deceuninck sports director Christoph Roodhooft, in conversation with De Telegraaf and others, already indicated that he thinks it will work out for his Dutch poulain.

IDLProCycling.com recently spoke, at the time of the Tour of Luxembourg, with the 29-year-old superstar from Kapellen, who indicated that he is not necessarily very obsessive about his diet. The Dutchman did lose a few kilograms for a better chance in mountainous Switzerland. "I don't think I am a lot of kilograms lighter for the World Championship, and I always have a bit of the same weight during the season. Maybe it differs by one or two kilograms, but it won't be more."

"A rider who can finish third in Liège-Bastogne-Liège..."

"Mathieu is ranked among the five best one-day riders in the world, and if you are in shape, you should have the ambition to triumph even on such a course," Roodhooft says. "After his successful spring, Mathieu rode a challenging Tour and Olympic road race, which failed in his case. You're talking about a period of about five weeks of racing with zero results. He's not used to that, and it's not fun. He is a winner."

Still, Roodhooft gives the Dutch star of the team quite a chance. "A rider who can finish third in Liège-Bastogne-Liège is not without a chance on this course, although it may be too difficult for him. However, more factors play a role, such as the following: What are the other countries and rivals doing?" The Flemish team manager also did not want to talk too much about MVDP 's weight. "Whether he is too skinny? I think people talk too much about that. He is slightly more lightweight than normal, but not abnormally much."