‘Frightening prospect’ - Mathieu van der Poel will move to ‘another level’ after electric Giro d’Italia

Published 30/05/2022 at 13:28 GMT

Was Mathieu van der Poel using the Giro d’Italia as a high-profile training camp ahead of a serious crack at the Tour de France? That’s the view of Eurosport expert Adam Blythe after the Dutchman’s madcap solo missions at the Giro. Van der Poel may have only won one stage, but he delighted fans with his fearless and aggressive riding as he repeatedly popped up in breakaways.

'One of the best moments I've ever seen' - Lloyd on Van der Poel salute of Girmay

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) will be an even more frightening force in cycling after completing his first Grand Tour at the Giro d’Italia, according to The Breakaway gang.

The Dutchman lit up the Giro with a string of gutsy – and often wildly ambitious – attacks. Although he won just a single stage, during the Hungarian Grande Partenza, he displayed a fearlessness on all terrain that hinted at his bold future plans.

Perhaps his most iconic move came on Stage 17, when he ripped clear from the breakaway along with Gijs Leemreize (Jumbo-Visma) on a steep mountain descent – almost coming a cropper after overcooking a corner. He then attacked again on the final Cat. 1 climb as the most unexpected win beckoned, only to blow up and fade away.

Amstel Gold Race Men

'Not very concerned' - Van der Poel on rivals ahead of Amstel Gold Race

13/04/2024 at 15:00

In the aftermath of Jai Hindley’s memorable overall title, Eurosport expert Adam Blythe repeated his claim that Van der Poel was testing himself in Italy ahead of a serious crack at the Tour de France.

“I said this the other day, I think this is for something else that he’s doing this for now,” said Blythe.

“He’s a winner, he wants to win bike races. He tried to win again [on Sunday], but I think he’s doing this in preparation for the Tour, see how he comes out of this.

“I think the main thing he will take from this is just to be patient a little bit on climbs. He’s got the legs to do it but every long climb he went into, he would ride super hard at the bottom in any break he was in, get halfway up and be caught or blow.

“So I think he’ll probably just go ‘I could probably last to the top of these climbs if I just chill out a little bit.’ Going into the Tour, he might just be in those bigger mountain days a little bit better than we’ve seen him now."

Blythe added that a patient Van der Poel would “win a lot more”.

‘Woah, woah!’ – Van der Poel almost tumbles over barrier on mountain descent

Such was Van der Poel’s willingness to attack, host Orla Chennaoui wondered if Belgian superstar Wout van Aert might find his status as cycling’s finest all-rounded under threat.

“We’ll have to see how he progresses from this Giro. It’s the first Grand Tour he’s getting through,” replied Robbie McEwen.

“The general accepted thing is you go to another level as a rider once you’ve finished a Grand Tour and that’s a frightening prospect, seeing him go to another level.

“I don’t know if he will be in the Wout van Aert climbing category but certainly everything else that he can do will get even better. He got third in the final time trial without riding conservatively whatsoever, he used every ounce of energy every day.

“He’s a phenomenon and I hope we get to watch him racing for a lot of years to come.”

Van der Poel’s only other Grand Tour appearance came at last year’s Tour de France, where he pulled out after eight days to focus on the mountain bike race at the Tokyo Olympics.

“He tried on at least 50% of the stages to take a second stage victory. He just threw caution to the wind,” said Dan Lloyd.

“He threw everything at pretty much every stage. He was unlucky in many ways not to come away with a stage win [on Sunday] but I think he will take a lot from coming third on this final time trial because he hasn’t got further than eight days through a Grand Tour.

“So to still be coming up with those performances after three weeks – you probably could have guessed it given his talent – but if he does manage to step it up a notch after having a three-week race in his legs, you’ve got to be worried if you’re one of his rivals.”

Hindley (Bora-hansgrohe) banished memories of his painful final day in 2020 with a risk-free time trial on Sunday to become the first Australian to win the Giro.