With one last hurrah to close out the Spring Classics, Mathieu van der Poel has returned from a quick four-day trip to warm-weather Spain and vowed to “give everything one more time” in Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
The Dutchman looks to pile on a third Monument victory of the season, and a seventh in his career, after dominating already at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. It’s not just a battle of attrition across 259km with 11 classified climbs in the hills of eastern Belgium that add up to 4,100 metres of vertical gain, but a second matchup against two-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), who won Strade Bianche for a second time in March.
“In Liège, the contenders cannot be counted on one hand, with Tadej Pogačar in the lead, of course. We saw in the Strade Bianche that Tadej doesn't need any competition to be in top shape right away. A pure master-class rider who will be racing on his favorite course on Sunday and who has a strong team around him,” Van der Poel said in a press statement on Friday.
Both riders have been in Spain to prepare with warmer weather and altitude for Sunday’s contest. Van der Poel flew to Alicante just hours after finishing the Amstel Gold Race to 'recharge batteries' and Pogačar was in the Sierra Nevada with some time in Monaco for the past three weeks after winning the overall at Volta a Catalunya in March.
However, while Pogačar bundled up in warm gear for a recon ride today in the chilly weather of the Ardennes countryside, Van der Poel changed his mind, attributing the decision to his familiarity with the terrain and preferring to forego the cold weather one more day.
"The batteries have been recharged. Due to the predicted bad weather conditions at home, I chose to fly to Spain on Sunday evening. There I could finish a few good training sessions the past few days in function of my last goal this spring,” Van der Poel said.
“On Thursday afternoon I returned to Belgium to recon the final of La Doyenne with my teammates on Friday, but in the last minute I decided not to do so. The weather forecast was too bad. Now, even though my last participation dates back to 2020, I know most of the roads and hills."
The Pogačar-Van der Poel matchup last took place in mid-March at Milan-San Remo, where the Slovenian finished third after an attack from the top of the Poggio was quashed by his Dutch rival working for teammate Jasper Philipsen, who took the win. The support cast around Van der Poel will be strong on Sunday, but he won’t have Milan-San Remo winner Philipsen as the course is not a playground for sprinters.
"As said, I think the shape is still good enough to play a significant role in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. And I'm not just talking about myself, but also about teammates. The results don't show it, but I saw in the Flèche Wallonne a strong Axel Laurance, Quinten Hermans and Søren Kragh Andersen. I think with this quality in our team we should be able to do something nice."
While Pogačar won Liège-Bastogne-Liège three years ago in a sprint from a small group, Van der Poel has only one appearance from four years ago and was sixth, three spots behind the Slovenian who just made the podium. Another win for Pogačar at Liège would give him six Monuments on his resume, which would then tie him with Van der Poel among active riders with the career bests.
Van der Poel was quick to note that Sunday’s contest wasn’t just between his Alpecin-Deceuninck squad and UAE Team Emirates. Ineos Grenadiers will bring Amstel Gold winner Tom Pidcock, who was second in Liège last year, and Visma-Lease a Bike will have Tiesj Benoot, who has a pair of top 10s in the opening pair of Ardennes Classics.
“There is also Tom Pidcock. I think of Richard Carapaz, Tiesj Benoot, Mattias Skjelmose, Maxim Van Gils, Dylan Teuns, you name it.... All guys who proved in the past week that they are in good shape and are on paper better climbers than myself," he said about a long list of contenders.
"Last Sunday's less good result did not make me doubt my good shape of the past weeks, to be clear. No, I didn't have super legs in the Amstel Gold Race, but I wasn't really bad either. However, because my spring was already successful, I could afford to gamble a bit in the final. That didn't turn out as hoped. But the best riders in the race were at the front and Tom Pidcock became the more than deserved winner."
All riders will endure the same race conditions, temperatures expected to be in the single digits and a chance of rain in the forecast. Van der Poel said he would focus on closing out his spring season with a fourth victory.
"Winning is possible. If I wasn't convinced of that, I wouldn't even participate. But it will all have to fall into place a little bit more than in the Flemish classics. We're going to try it anyhow. One more shot before I take some rest again. As I said, our spring has succeeded already. Everything that will be added on Sunday will be more than the icing on the cake."
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