Mathieu van der Poel shares photo from Spain: ‘The past few weeks and days have demanded a lot’

Van der Poel arrived in Spain on Sunday night after his charter departed from the same area where the Alpecin-Premier Tech team bus had been parked following Jasper Philipsen’s victory in In Flanders Fields, at Kortrijk-Wevelgem International Airport.

Before leaving, the Dutchman said: “I’m going to train well in Spain for another week and then I hope to be completely ready for Flanders.”

Just 18 hours later, Van der Poel was already able to share a photo from his ride under Spanish sunshine and clear blue skies, while rain and hail were sweeping across the Low Countries. Christoph Roodhooft summed up the contrast neatly: “Just look out the window and you know enough — the March showers and April unpredictability are everywhere.”

“Mathieu rode for two to three hours and in return he gets five days of good weather,” Roodhooft said of the short stay in Moraira. “The peace he finds in Spain also plays a role,” brother Philip added to Sporza.

“People can think whatever they want about it. But because of how smoothly he was able to leave, the impact is limited,” Philip Roodhooft said. “The past few weeks and the last three days have demanded a lot physically and mentally from Mathieu.” At Alpecin-Premier Tech, the thinking is therefore simple: it made perfect sense to do everything possible to minimise the impact and begin recovery as quickly as possible.