📸 From Omloop podium to Oesterdam: Mathieu van der Poel and Tim van Dijke are already back on the road together

The riders from Alpecin–Premier Tech and Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe headed out for a loop around the Oesterdam, as Van Dijke shared on social media. In the photo, Van der Poel can be seen under a crisp Dutch sky.

On Saturday, the rider from Zeeland was the only one who managed to bridge back to Van der Poel and his breakaway companion Florian Vermeersch (UAE), before the trio went on to claim the podium places. For Van Dijke, it was the best Classics result of his career so far. “It feels like a win. You’re second, but Mathieu is obviously in a class of his own. I didn’t think I could do this,” he said afterwards.

Van der Poel, in turn, was quick to acknowledge his younger compatriot’s place on the Omloop podium. “I train with Tim a lot, so I know him well. He’s on the podium too, and people sometimes forget that. He’s being rewarded for his performance with a podium in Omloop, and that’s really worth something.”

Both Van Dijke and Van der Poel are on the start list for Tirreno-Adriatico, which begins on Monday with an individual time trial in Lido di Camaiore. Normally, we won’t see former winner Van der Poel at Strade Bianche on Sunday.