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.
He has also tweaked his approach in the direct run-up to Flanders, leaving Belgium for Spain and choosing warm-weather training over wet and windy racing.
After an all-action display at E3 Saxo Classic last Friday, where he was second to arch-rival Wout van Aert, Van der Poel flew to Spain on Saturday to take up residence in his favoured south-east corner of the country, where he spends much of his winters.
He missed a miserable Gent-Wevelgem on Sunday and a crack at a third Dwars door Vlaanderen crown on Wednesday, but was able to fine-tune his preparation for Flanders, which he hopes will also serve a purpose for Paris-Roubaix a week later.
"I put in some extra work in ideal weather conditions to be fine in both the Ronde and Paris-Roubaix," Van der Poel said after returning to Belgium on Thursday evening.
"On Sunday I completed one last really long training session, but also the following days some longer trips were on the menu with extra accents to be at my best the coming week. The last days I obviously built in some rest, to keep the freshness."
The Tour of Flanders might be the task immediately at hand, but Van der Poel put a strong emphasis on Roubaix, which he has yet to win.
"I've noticed in the past that I was usually just a bit less in Paris-Roubaix than in the Tour of Flanders. I wanted to avoid that this year," he said, before comparing his form to this time 12 months ago.
"That's a difficult one. Because of back problems, the run-up last year was atypical, but in the end I made it to my very best level that day. Now I feel I'm more 'race-ready'.
"Last year I also succeeded with a slightly less broad base, but then the peak lasts just a bit less long. In Roubaix, the legs were already a bit less. That will be hopefully different this year."
The late return to Belgium meant Van der Poel missed out on his Alpecin-Deceuninck team's recon of the Flanders parcours on Thursday, but he brushed off any suggestions that would hold him back.
"I've done the Ronde a few times now. I know the course," he said. "Last Friday I also rode the E3 Harelbeke, partly on the same roads."
Van der Poel appears physically fresh and mentally relaxed, a point that was backed up by his father and fellow former Flanders winner, Adrie van der Poel.
"His condition is much more stable than last year. He's even a little better than last year, in my opinion. But that's no guarantee of winning again," Adrie told Cyclingnews.
Adrie expressed "surprise" that Van Aert risked falling ill in the rain and cold at Gent-Wevelgem, arguing Van der Poel's approach was the more sensible given the conditions. Van Aert, however, dominated that race, gifted it to his teammate, and now appears to have the momentum along with his Jumbo-Visma squad.
Despite Van der Poel suffering a rare defeat in a sprint to Van Aert at E3, Adrie saw no lack of confidence in his son.
"He did a great race at E3, only he didn't race to win. It was more or less in function of Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. I think he was already with his head in those races," he said.
"He was motivated when I took him to the airport day after. There's nothing to worry about. He's coming back with everything right between the ears."
Mathieu van der Poel himself noted that Van Aert is "the most difficult customer in the sprint", while Tadej Pogačar "prefers to ride along to the finish and will try and ride away from us on the climbs".
However, he argued it was "too easy to say the three of us are going to come out on top" and wouldn't "pin myself down on a three-way battle".
As for his ideal scenario, with two titles already under his belt, Van der Poel could afford to be picky, such is his confidence right now.
"The past three editions we rode to the finish with two," he said. "Coming in alone would be something special."
