No green jersey or stage win for van der Poel in the Dauphiné, but one key issue is resolved: "That's no longer the problem"

The 30-year-old rider repeated this word in his flash interview after the last stage, which he had already said many times the week before. "Of course, it was a very tough week. This is exactly what I needed in the run-up to the Tour de France."

And so Van der Poel is satisfied when he speaks to the press. "I am pleased with this week. Obviously, it would have been nice to win a stage in the green jersey, but I think I can be generally satisfied with how it went this week." Van der Poel wore the green jersey for almost a week but ultimately failed to win the points classification. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates-XRG) took the secondary classification with the same number of points as MVDP.

Text continues below.

In just under three weeks, the Tour de France will begin, where Van der Poel will have plenty of opportunities for himself, but he will also have to be a lead-out for sprinter Jasper Philipsen. “The Tour is different, with a chaotic first week. Hopefully, we can already win a stage.”

Van der Poel finished in the top five in the first three stages of the Dauphiné, came sixth in the time trial, and then finished in the top ten in the bunch sprint to Macon. He mainly showed himself in the mountain stages in the last three days by attacking early. The reason: to build up strength. "That's no longer a problem," laughs Van der Poel. "I need a few days to recover, and then I can still train hard in the run-up to the Tour."

It was unclear beforehand whether Van der Poel would be able to start in eastern France due to a fracture in his wrist a few weeks earlier. However, the Belgian managed to get fit in time for the start. "I need a race like this, where I ride at the limit every day. It helps me get into top form."