Van der Poel (with insane bike) waits at altitude to see who gets to join him in the Tour de France

At Alpecin-Deceuninck, they have not yet decided who will be sent to the Tour de France this summer. The Belgian team has Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen already confirmed as leaders on paper, but the remaining slots will have a high price. Even Gianni Vermeersch, who impressed at Paris-Roubaix and just won Dwars door het Hageland on Saturday, is not a certain pick.

Team manager Christoph Roodhooft confirmed in Het Nieuwsblad that he and his brother Philip are still devising the best plan for the Tour. According to him, recent results should not be overly scrutinized. "Our main goal is to perform in the Tour, which is why our leaders haven't raced in the past weeks."

For this reason, after Van der Poel's dominant victory at Paris-Roubaix (with Philipsen in second and Vermeersch in sixth), the team's only other win was with Axel Laurance in the Tour of Norway, claiming both a stage and the overall victory. Vermeersch's victory in Dwars door het Hageland was a welcome boost for Roodhooft. "Such a period with few wins, that's not pleasant."

Read more below the photo.

Axel Laurance

Who will support Van der Poel and Philipsen at the Tour de France?

There is already a preliminary selection for the Tour at Alpecin-Deceuninck. It's no coincidence that the team went to altitude training camp in La Plagne with nine riders. Who will be the last to be cut is still in question. "The choice will be made based on what type of rider we will need. It's a purely rational decision. One more has to be dropped, and they all know it. We also took a risk by only going to altitude with nine riders. This way, we only have to disappoint one rider later."

Vermeersch believes he can be valuable, especially after being passed over at the last minute for the Tour de France last year. "It remains a tricky issue, especially when everyone is healthy. But I repeat, it will mainly be a rational decision. I saw a good group in La Plagne. The atmosphere was good, although unfortunately the weather wasn't always great. But we managed to do almost everything we wanted to do," says Roodhooft.

He also refers to Van der Poel. The world champion, due to a busy spring, joined later in La Plagne and is therefore adding an extra week in the altitude chamber in Spain. "Now follows a third and long block with the Tour, the Olympics, and the World Championships in Zurich where he wants to defend his title. In our view, those who remain fresh and motivated have the best chance of success." On Instagram, Van der Poel already gave a sneak peek of the Canyon bike, which he might use in the upcoming period, featuring the rainbow colors...

Lukáš Ronald Lukács

@lucasaganronald

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That paint-job on a new bike of Mathieu van der Poel 😍🌈

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