Mathieu van der Poel already back on familiar Spanish climbs in mid-October, joined by David Dekker

This week, Van der Poel posted a screenshot of a running session on social media. Under the heading ‘LSD’ (long slow distance), he ran thirteen kilometers in an hour. That's pretty fast for the average amateur, but with an average heart rate of 111 (!) beats per minute, it was indeed a leisurely run.

On Friday, Van der Poel once again rode up the Coll de Rates, a well-known climb on the Costa Blanca. The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider did so together with David Dekker, as we can see on his Strava. The sprinter is still without a contract after returning from a long rehabilitation in China earlier this month following surgery for a narrowed femoral artery.

Dekker completed 115 kilometers, adding the comment “the Coll de Rates feels a bit different in October” on Strava.