Roodhooft: With Pogačar, we don’t need to really change our tactics
Alpecin-Deceuninck sports director talks about Mathieu van der Poel's form, the depth to his Classics team, and the build-up to Milan-San Remo
Good morning subscribers,
We’re kicking off this week with an exclusive interview with Mathieu van der Poel’s sports director, Christoph Roodhooft, as we prepare for the first Monument of the season, Milan-San Remo.
We’ve got an action-packed week of coverage coming up on the Substack with Joe Morgan returning with a HUGE Milan-San Remo preview, a breakdown on the contenders and wildcards from the women’s and men’s races, pre-race press conferences including Michael Matthews and Elisa Balsamo, and plenty of analysis and interviews in the mix.
We’ve also lined up an interview with the retired world-famous cycling photographer Graham Watson as he picks out his favourite images from his decades in the sport. We’ll showcase the selected images and the interview soon!
There’s also a Tour de France feature scheduled for later this afternoon, and next week, I’ll be in Belgium for several of the cobbled Classics as we head into one of my favourite parts of the season.
A massive thank you to everyone who has supported the Substack since it started in June of last year. I never thought that in a million years, we’d be able to attend a few handpicked races, but that’s only possible because of you!
Thank you and have a great week.
Daniel 🫶
Roodhooft: With Pogačar, we don’t need to really change our tactics
Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) may not have come away from Tirreno-Adriatico with a stage win but the Dutch rider looks well on course to play a significant part in next weekend’s Milan-San Remo.
The 2023 winner heads into the race alongside defending champion and teammate Jasper Philipsen, whom van der Poel led out on the Via Roma last season. The pair will face a star-studded field that includes Tadej Pogačar, Tom Pidcock, Mads Pedersen, Michael Matthews, and Filippo Ganna. However, sports director Roodhooft believes that his Alpecin-Deceuninck are heading into the busiest part of the Classics season well prepared for the challenges that lay ahead.
“The form is building in the right direction, that’s my feeling,” Christoph Roodhooft told us following Van der Poel’s performance in Tirreno-Adriatico.
Van der Poel entered the Italian stage race after winning his first and only road race of the season at the Ename Samyn Classic at the beginning of March. He was competitive throughout Tirreno, picking up two top-five results in the sprint stages.
Although the poor weather certainly contributed to the race, the 30-year-old was resolute in completing it, using the racing miles to prepare for the nervous final in Milan-San Remo.
“Because of the weather, some of those feelings were mixed, but that’s the same for everyone. In the end, I think that Tirreno bought what we needed for Mathieu as he managed to get through the hard days. That was the goal. He tried to win here on some stages, anyway, he tried, but it’s not always easy,” Roodhooft said.