Somewhat worryingly for the riders who'll line up against him in Bruges on Sunday morning, Mathieu van der Poel looks in far better shape – both physically and mentally – for the Tour of Flanders than he did when he won the race last year.
Van der Poel won his second Ronde title last year in a late entry to the Spring after a winter bedevilled by a back injury, but comes into this one with a much broader base, not to mention a Monument victory at Milan-San Remo.
