Ten Dam shares amusing WhatsApp exchange with Van der Poel: "Will I get a bonus from Moerenhout for this too?"

It was a bit of a guessing game regarding what Van der Poel would actually compete in for 2024. There were widespread claims that the Tour of Lombardy would be on his schedule, but the man from Kapellen debunked that. "I’m only doing the gravel World Championship, and then I’m going on vacation," he said decisively from Switzerland. "I have no idea where that rumor came from. Not from me, at least."

This did confirm that Ten Dam, as the national coach of TeamNL, can count on the glutton known as Van der Poel. "I had a WhatsApp conversation with Mathieu, one with a humorous tone," the gravel enthusiast shared on LSRF. "I asked Mathieu if he wanted to race at the World Championships. He jokingly replied that he always gets a little something from Koos Moerenhout when he participates in a world championship. He asked if that was the case for gravel too," a laughing Ten Dam recounted.

"In the end, we managed to pull it off nicely," Ten Dam concluded, who also spoke with Thomas Dekker about the wildcard issue. Dekker would have been able to participate in the race in Leuven (on Sunday, October 6) via a wildcard if he placed in the top three at the national gravel championships. "But that was a whole different story," Dekker noted, ultimately ending up with a DNF. "It was very well organized, and I had a great day. Did I believe I could qualify? You always fool yourself a little bit. But looking back, I can say it wasn’t very realistic, haha!"