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

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."

"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."