Van der Poel recalls "one of the most fun stage races ever": "We burned through our best legs there"

Mathieu van der Poel has the same goals for 2025 but is approaching them differently in one crucial way. The star rider of Alpecin-Deceuninck is adding Tirreno-Adriatico to his race schedule as part of his preparation for the Italian and Flemish spring classics. During a press conference on Sunday, he explained to IDLProCycling.com and other media why he made this decision and later reflected in the mixed zone on that one epic edition from 2021.

For Van der Poel, Tirreno was supposed to be his first race of 2025, but he has already kicked off his season with a victory at the last-minute addition of GP Samyn. He raced there because a teammate dropped out at Alpecin-Deceuninck — nothing more to it. That said, he was eager to get back to racing and was already in Belgium due to severe weather in Spain. "The weather didn’t stop me, though. I was able to do everything I wanted."

In Belgium, the Dutchman had a great time before heading to Tirreno in Lido di Camaiore. It was a complete role reversal: sunshine in the Netherlands and Belgium, rain in Spain, and more rain expected at Tirreno in the coming week. "Besides GP Samyn, I was able to train on my gravel bike at home for a bit, so that was nice. I saw that the weather forecast for Tirreno isn’t looking great, but hopefully, that changes. There’s nothing we can do about it."

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Van der Poel during the Tirreno press conference

No ambitions for time trials, but racing without Philipsen in later stages

Tirreno starts on Monday with an individual time trial, but Van der Poel has no ambitions in that area. "I never train on my time trial bike, and everyone knows that’s not where my goals lie. I don’t expect much from it," he stated clearly. "I want to find my best legs, as I did the last few years. Last year, I was successful without it, but Tirreno is a great race to prepare for the races to come."

Moreover, he emphasized that his competitive spirit came alive during the winter. "You start cycling to race, not just to train, so we’ve chosen to do a few more races. I’m a big fan of altitude camps and training camps, but everyone has their limits, and for me, now was the time to race. My last few percentages of form always come from racing — that’s been clear in recent years."

He continued, "Tirreno has always been a great preparation for Milan-Sanremo, just like Sanremo itself is a good stepping stone toward Paris-Roubaix. I feel good with this preparation, so I’m sticking to it. As a team, we’re also hoping to win a stage." However, this time, it will be without Jasper Philipsen, who is not participating, unlike in previous years. "I would have liked to race here with Jasper for the sprint stages because it gives you a role to play during the day. But now, if I get an opportunity, I’ll go for it myself."

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Left to right: Tom Pidcock, Mathieu van der Poel, Juan Ayuso, Jai Hindley, Jonathan Milan and Filippo Ganna

Van der Poel won’t go all out like in the epic 2021 edition

Van der Poel will have to be careful not to push himself as hard as he did in 2021. That year, he won two stages at Tirreno, with his solo breakaway on stage five being especially unforgettable. He attacked 64 kilometers from the finish and, completely exhausted, barely held off Tadej Pogacar by ten seconds. After the finish, he was almost in need of medical assistance. "That’s an edition I still remember well. It was one of the most fun stage races I’ve ever done," he laughed when asked about it.

With Van der Poel, Pogacar, and Wout van Aert all in top form at the start, the race turned into an all-out battle every day. "Also because the course really suited that style of racing. But looking back, I think we burned through our best legs there — and that didn’t just apply to me. It was an incredible week, and I hope to attack again this week. That won’t happen every day, though, since Tirreno has really become tougher in recent years. There’s a real mountain stage now, so those are stages where I’ll try to conserve energy."

Still, you can count on Van der Poel to test his legs at least once. "I’m not going into this race with a calculated approach," he said, making his ambitions clear. "You try, but once the race starts, you don’t think about that anymore. You just don’t see races like that one from 2021 much anymore — where it was full throttle every single day. That’s become a bit less common now."

Need a refresher? Check out the legendary stage below...

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