Mathieu van der Poel admits he's struggling quite a bit in the Tour de France: "How I'm doing? Not great"

We’re deep into the second week now, and the fatigue is starting to show. “I had this stage marked, and the plan is to try something with Kaden Groves,” said Van der Poel, who’s clearly having doubts. “How’s it going after the cold? Not great. I’m not recovering well. So today’s really a question mark.”

“I’ll give it a go, but if I’m not feeling right, I’ll hold back. With the rest day and Ventoux coming up, I’ll have two more days to recover. Hopefully I’ll feel better after that,” the Dutchman explained.

A few days ago, Van der Poel was also stung by an insect, something that’s still bothering him. “I got stung near my eye on Hautacam. It swelled shut. I could feel my body working to fight off the venom. It’ll be fine eventually, but it takes energy, and that’s something you need every single day here.”

On Saturday, Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel watched his friend Remco Evenepoel withdraw from the Tour de France, a moment he found tough to see. “That’s really hard, you know. I’ve been in that situation myself, and abandoning the Tour is one of the hardest things you can do.”

“But if you decide it’s no longer possible, then that’s just how it is,” Van der Poel added. “I sent him a message on Friday encouraging him to keep pushing, but once it’s no longer doable, there’s no point in continuing. Time to move on to the next goal, and knowing him, he’ll bounce back just fine.”