Van der Poel and team manager left with ‘mixed feelings’ after impressive day: "That didn’t work out"

Mathieu van der Poel gained an important confidence boost in stage five of Tirreno-Adriatico on Friday. According to team manager Christoph Roodhooft, the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider didn’t feel his best in the tough stage, yet still managed to finish second in a sprint among the favorites. IDLProCycling.com spoke with the Belgian team boss.

Van der Poel himself expressed his satisfaction immediately after the finish. “Of course, it’s a bit frustrating not to win, but I’m mainly happy with how I rode. On the climb, I was really at my limit. I didn’t think I would survive it, but I did, and then I had to take some risks because I was alone at the end. In the end, the pace dropped, and the breakaway rider managed to stay ahead,” he told HLN.

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Van der Poel draws comparison to Milan-Sanremo finale

The victory on the day went unexpectedly to early breakaway rider Fredrik Dversnes of Uno-X, but that didn’t dampen the spirits at Alpecin-Deceuninck. “It’s a shame I didn’t get the stage win, but overall, I’m happy with my performance. This was also a situation similar to Milan-San Remo,” Van der Poel said when asked about La Primavera on March 22.

However, the Dutch leader pointed out some key differences. The fifth stage of Tirreno-Adriatico was ‘only’ 205 kilometers long, while the run-in to Pergola was actually tougher than what the Cipressa and Poggio will present. Team manager Christoph Roodhooft agreed, emphasizing: “San Remo is a one-day race and will be completely different—you can’t compare it to a stage race.”

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Van der Poel felt ‘slightly less’ and lacked teammates in the finale

Despite missing out on the win, the Alpecin-Deceuninck team boss was satisfied with Van der Poel’s performance and the team’s overall effort. “His condition was good, but we were missing one teammate at the front. We had Gal Glivar and Xandro Meurisse in the break, and they were in the right place. Xandro would have been stronger if he hadn’t been recovering from illness. Still, with that breakaway, we forced the other teams to chase, and it had been a long time since we raced like that. That played to our advantage.”

After several cold and rainy days in Tirreno-Adriatico, the hope is that Van der Poel avoids picking up any illness. So far, so good. “Today was fine, but the finale was tough. Mathieu didn’t feel great, but that’s probably due to those two brutal days, and the cold always affects him. Still, this kind of finish should give him confidence,” Roodhooft concluded.

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It was sunny again Friday at the start

What can Van der Poel and co do to avoid getting sick?

According to Van der Poel, it’s difficult to completely avoid picking up a virus in such conditions. “There’s not much you can do. A lot of riders have abandoned, and I think many others are still racing while feeling under the weather. You never know when that feeling will become too much—getting sick can happen anytime. There’s no right or wrong approach because, besides the bad weather in Paris-Nice, they weren’t even able to train in Spain today.”

Poor weather has affected all of Europe, so perhaps Van der Poel hasn’t had it too bad in Tirreno-Adriatico. After being boxed in during Wednesday’s sprint, he finished third on Thursday and second on Friday. Is Roodhooft satisfied? "We have mixed feelings," the team manager admitted. "Has Tirreno been a success? He’s had three chances to win in a row, and it hasn’t happened. Maybe by the end of April, we won’t care about that, but a stage win in a race like this is something we would have valued."

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

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