“Trained more than ever” and solo Tour of Flanders recon: Van der Poel’s recipe to beat Pogacar this spring

Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel have immense respect for each other, but anyone who watched their fierce battle on Saturday at Milan-San Remo wouldn’t exactly describe their relationship as friendly. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader put Alpecin-Deceuninck’s frontman under serious pressure—but was met with a powerful counterattack and a perfectly executed sprint plan in return. The start of a thrilling spring where Pogi and MVDP are bound to clash many more times.

Alongside a detailed analysis of his Milan-Sanremo victory, Van der Poel’s press conference of course centered around Pogacar—and everything it takes to beat the Slovenian. That started with La Primavera, their first of many encounters. Van der Poel had used Tirreno-Adriatico as his preparation, and after winning in San Remo, he called it “one of the best shapes I’ve ever been in.” “I felt good at Tirreno and knew I’d be at my best after a week of rest,” he said.

A week of rest—it sounds simple. Feet up? IV drip? Van der Poel clearly has a different definition of “rest” in his dictionary. “It wasn’t really a rest week, of course. On Monday I was still pretty tired, so I just rode for an hour. Tuesday I did three hours, and on Wednesday I did a four-hour solo recon of the Tour of Flanders—pretty intense, too. I was on the bike the following days as well.”

An average cycling amateur would need a week off just to recover from doing the Tour of Flanders finale—but Van der Poel knew exactly what his body needed. “I go a bit by feel, because by now I know what works for me. I also love the build-up and vibe before a one-day race, and over the years we’ve gathered enough data to know what I have to do. That’s also one of the reasons I ride Tirreno—it’s the kind of race I need to be in peak shape for this one.”

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Van der Poel rolls in after Milan-San Remo, exhausted but victorious

Van der Poel focuses on what he does best

His peak form has arrived at the perfect time, because after Milan-San Remo, Van der Poel will face Pogacar again this Friday at the E3 Saxo Classic. After that, both riders will take on the Tour of Flanders (on April 6), and the big question remains whether Pogacar will also line up at Paris-Roubaix. “I’ve said it many times—he already showed in the Tour de France how strong he is on the cobbles. He’s capable of winning Paris-Roubaix, though it won’t be easy. But he definitely has a shot,” said Van der Poel about a possible debut for Pogi on the brutal French cobbles.

As for himself, the Dutchman isn’t stepping out of his comfort zone this spring. He’s sticking to the races he always does, skipping Liège-Bastogne-Liège (where he placed third last year) and also the Tour of Lombardy later this season. “I’m not focusing on those, because in times like these, I think it’s pretty much impossible to win races like that against riders like Pogacar and Evenepoel. Maybe not completely impossible, but I’d need a lot of luck. So it makes more sense for me to focus on the races I’m best at and try to win them as often as I can.”

He now has two Milan-San Remo wins and two Paris-Roubaix titles. And he’s won the Tour of Flanders three times. To keep pulling that off, Van der Poel quietly made himself even better over the winter. “I trained more than ever and found out that I can handle it. That’s the most important thing. But I also know that won’t be the case every year. Right now, I feel a bit stronger again, but next week at E3 could be a totally different story. I think we did everything we had to do to be in the best possible shape.”

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Van der Poel with his second Milan-San Remo trophy

Van der Poel enjoys the rivalry with Pogacar

Pogacar better brace himself, although Van der Poel believes things could play out very differently at the Tour of Flanders. “I don’t think this victory says much about what’s still to come. Everyone knows San Remo is a special race—Flanders is much tougher. Tadej will have more chances to drop me there, I still remember that from two years ago. He’s incredibly strong, we saw that again today. It’s impressive, so it’ll be hard to beat him—but we’re definitely going to try.”

Van der Poel said it all with a smile, as he clearly enjoys the rivalry with Pogi. “I don’t think Tadej is just my biggest rival. If you can beat him, you’re usually close to winning. It’s impressive, because he’s not only one of the best one-day racers, but also one of the best grand tour riders. He’s the talent of this generation, and I’m glad I get to race against him. When you manage to beat him, that’s something really special.”

According to the San Remo winner, it was mostly thanks to Pogacar that this year’s edition may have been the most thrilling one yet. “I’ve never seen a race like this starting from the Cipressa, but let’s be honest—that was mainly thanks to Tadej. I was trying to follow, he had to try something to win. And they executed it perfectly. But it comes down to the details. If my legs had been just a little weaker and he had dropped me on the Poggio, it would’ve been a win for them. They raced it brilliantly, so he’ll keep trying. And one day, he’ll win it.”

Bram van der Ploeg (Twitter: @BvdPloegg | email: [email protected])     

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