Van der Poel has mixed feelings about the Tour de France time trial: 'I don’t really see the point'

The Tour de France is heading into its second rest day. On Tuesday, the Tour de France continues with the time trial, in which the general classification contenders will once again give it their all to make up the necessary time. And what about Mathieu van der Poel? The Dutch rider from Alpecin-Premier Tech told IDL Pro Cycling about his potential time trial ambitions.

It took a while, but on Day 9 in Ussel, Mathieu van der Poel finally claimed his Tour de France victory. In one of the few stages where UAE—albeit by the skin of its teeth!—allowed the early breakaway to go, the Dutchman struck decisively. In a sprint finish, he then outpaced Tobias Halland Johannessen, Tom Pidcock, and Alex Baudin.

After that, it was another brief wait for a true MVDP day, although the former world champion was frequently at the front during the second week of the Tour as well. However, a real opportunity never materialised, so Van der Poel still had to wait a bit for the third week. During that second week, the Dutchman also provided some excellent lead-outs for Jasper Philipsen.

All right, so it’s week three, with some great days still ahead for Van der Poel. To make it to the start line there, he had to get through two tough mountain stages on Saturday and Sunday. How did MVDP manage that? “Pretty well, actually,” he told IDL Pro Cycling on Sunday morning. “I made it to the finish without too many problems.”

After Sunday’s fifteenth stage, there will first be a rest day, before the time trial finally takes place on Tuesday. The question, of course, is: Will Van der Poel go all out, and does he have any ambitions for Stage 16? “No ambitions, for now,” the Dutchman said right away. “I think it’s a pretty tough course.”

Of course, the competition is fierce in the Tour de France. In the Tour de Suisse—which took place on a completely different course than Tuesday’s—Van der Poel did go all out, and even then, Pogacar was only 0.3 seconds faster. So his situation is different heading into Tuesday. “Especially with the general classification contenders, I don’t really see the point in trying to get a good result there.”

Because, as Van der Poel also knows, there might be another opportunity in Stage 17 on Wednesday. So is Tuesday just a matter of holding back, to be in top form the next day? “I think so. I think Wednesday could present an opportunity—maybe for me, maybe for Jasper. After that, of course, our sights are set on Paris,” said MVDP.