Van der Poel says 'more pressure' to win Flanders in Van Aert and Stuyven absence

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) believes that he may be under “more pressure” at the Tour of Flanders in the absence of injured pair Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Jasper Stuyven (Lidl-Trek).

Van Aert suffered – among other injuries – a broken collarbone after a high-speed crash at the recent Dwars Door Vlaanderen. After surgery it was not clear if he will be able to compete at this year’s Giro d’Italia, but he is definitely out of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.

Stuyven meanwhile also underwent surgery in the same Herentals hospital as Van Aert for his own fractured collarbone.

All of which means Van der Poel will race without competition from two of his strongest one-day rivals in Sunday’s Monument.

The Dutchman is looking to build on a promising start to the season, having lifted his sixth UCI Cyclo-cross world championship title, as well as the E3 Saxo Classic earlier this month.

Speaking ahead of Flanders, Van der Poel – who didn’t ride Dwars Door Vlaanderen – was sympathetic to the respective plights of both his fellow competitors.

He told Wielerflits: “We will never know if I would have been involved in the crash on Wednesday. It’s a pity for the Tour of Flanders, but even more for Wout and Jasper.

“You work months towards this goal and you have to drop out just days before.”

Despite the path to success appearing to open up ahead of him, Van der Poel said he would prefer to face stiff competition when he races.

He explained: “I’ve never made a secret of the fact that I always want to compete against the best. Maybe there’ll be more pressure on my shoulders. Visma-Lease a Bike and Lidl-Trek still have a strong team.

“I’ll do my thing and we’ll see.”

Christoph Roodhooft, a manager in Van der Poel’s Alpecin Deceuninck team, was seemingly more bullish about the chances of his star rider.

“What Mathieu expects from us, we can deliver for sure on Sunday with the team we have,” he told Cyclingnews.

“I’m not afraid, not at all.”

Jasper Philipsen, a team-mate of Van der Poel at Alpecin-Deceuninck and who triumphed ahead of the Dutchman at Milan-Sanremo, will miss Flanders as he is expected to focus his energies on Paris-Roubaix instead.

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