Van der Poel showcases rainbow jersey, mainly due to decompression in training: "Not much left to win whis season"

On Sunday, September 3rd, Mathieu van der Poel will ride in the Bretagne Classic - Ouest-France. The French one-day race will be his first official road race in the rainbow jersey. Speaking to the assembled media, including IDLProCycling.com, he previewed the challenging classic in the starting town of Plouay, which has a total of a whopping 4,000 (!) meters of elevation gain.

For Van der Poel, 2023 has been an exceptional year. Many cycling fans and followers would thus assume that the newly-crowned world champion might take it easy before the cyclocross season starts. However, that's not the case for the 28-year-old Dutchman. 'Matje' has a busy road schedule for the remainder of the year. After the race over the Breton hills, he will also head to the GP de Fourmies (September 10), GP Wallonie (September 13) and Paris-Tours (October 8).

Why did he choose such an extensive race schedule? "Until the test event for the Olympics (on September 23, ed.), I wanted to race a bit more and maintain some form. I think I'd rather race than train, especially since there's quite a bit of decompression," he said.

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'"My form might actually improve by racing more," said Van der Poel

"In fact, I think I've had my best season ever. At this stage of the road season, there's not much left for me to win. I notice that this also affects my training. And, of course, it's just fun to race." The organizers of the Bretagne Classic - Ouest-France were fortunate in this regard, as they saw the multi-talented cyclist's name appear on the start list.

By his own admission, Van der Poel won't reach his best form in the upcoming road races. When IDLProCycling.com asked him if he genuinely had ambitions for the Bretagne Classic, he responded cleverly, "I certainly aim to give my best. I've still been cycling a lot these past days. But my major goals have already passed. It's been an incredible year, and I'm just trying to enjoy it. Whatever I do now is probably not going to add more value. But perhaps my form might actually improve by racing more," he said, making the hearts of his fans beat a little faster.

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Van der Poel says tough race in Brittany isn't a bad thing for future prospects

A 258-kilometer race with about 4,000 meters of elevation gain almost sounds like a classic of the caliber of Liège-Bastogne-Liège. "This is really not an easy one to start with," he confides to this website. "It's both long and tough. But considering what lies ahead, that might not be such a bad thing."

"I always enjoy racing in France," the golden boy of the Belgian WorldTour team confesses. "I've already had a number of races in this region. This is also a challenging course for me, but it's one that lends itself to attacking. It will all depend on my legs; I'm curious how they will feel. We're here with a good team," he added, referring to the presence of riders like Jasper Philipsen and Soren Kragh Andersen.