Van der Poel on his return to competition: "I had a good time"

We already knew that Mathieu Van der Poel is on a different level. Having to abandon a race when you are leading it due to external circumstances, or being caught 2 kilometres from the finish line of another classic, is not a trauma for the Dutchman, who has his sights set on other events of the season.

The exit of the UAE Tour and the week of Van der Poel

The Dutchman has begun the road season in a very strange way. Something that for every cyclist would be a complete bittersweet taste, for Mathieu Van der Poel it is pure fun.

Do you get the feeling that any other rider who wins the first stage of a short stage event and is forced to drop out for reasons beyond his control would be upset, even angry at his misfortune? Van der Poel would not. Do you think that attempting a breakaway in the Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne with more than 80 kilometres to go and then being left with nothing to show for it is another failed attempt? Not for Van der Poel either.

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Van der Poel says "I had a good time", like someone who went to the UAE Tour to see how it went or tried his luck at the Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne.

“It wasn’t a bad try,” he told the media. And it certainly wasn't.

Van der Poel: from Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne to Strade Bianche

Because Mathieu Van der Poel almost won the Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne with such a long breakaway. Only a collaboration between all the teams in the squad who wanted Van der Poel to avoid a breakaway on the last stretch could have managed to catch him. Pedersen would end up taking a sprint victory.

But, clearly, Van der Poel talks about the Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne as a race he was not going to ride. Because two weeks earlier it was like that, a date that didn't even appear on his 2021 calendar. It was only the withdrawal of Alpecin-Fenix from the Tour of the Emirates due to the coronavirus that made the team look for an alternative so that they wouldn't have to miss a key week in the preparation for 2021.

Van der Poel was able to prove that he can also win in the sprint. He had already proved it last year, especially in that mythical sprint with Van Aert, and now he did it again to take the lead of the UAE Tour. But everything was ruined by the safety protocols of the UCI and a positive result in his team.

In the Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne, as he arrived rested, he broke the race very early. Even he himself expected to be caught after the Kwaremont, but seeing that they did not decide to chase him seriously, he had to decide to continue pulling the breakaway of two or slow the pace thinking about the end of the stage. Van der Poel opted for the first option when he saw these doubts in the squad, and it almost worked out for him: he was caught just 2 kilometres from the finish line after having maintained a 20-second gap for quite a while.

The next objective is very clear: the Strade Bianche, where he will face Van Aert and a whole pack of cyclists specialised in classics next Saturday. All this, without the preparation studied, with just three days of racing. “Three days of racing is enough for me,” said Mathieu Van der Poel after the cyclo-cross phase. Does anyone doubt that at this stage?