Van der Poel’s fourth victory is just a matter of time, say Boonen, Museeuw and Cancellara: “Until Sunday, I’m still the record holder”

Boonen won the Tour in 2005, 2006, and 2012, and was also the only one of the record holders to win it once in the rainbow jersey—aside from Van der Poel. “It would be crazy if Mathieu doesn’t break that Flanders record,” Boonen told Sporza plainly. “If not this Sunday, he still has a few more chances in the coming years. Although there seems to be a reason why it’s so hard to win the Tour a fourth time—but I don’t know what that reason is. Personally, I never lost sleep over records in the classics when I was still racing.”

“It was never my ambition to be at the top of those lists. But I did aim to win those races every year, and then you naturally end up on top of those lists. I don’t think Mathieu is losing sleep over those records either. I could have won the Tour four, five, or even six times. But that’s not how it turned out. In a career, you win and you lose. Mathieu will lose some editions of the Tour too. But he might also win five or six.”