Van der Poel lacked punch in Dauphiné sprint: "This is what I could not train in the last few weeks"

With the 'big three' and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), van der Poel broke away in the last 6 kilometers. "Honestly, I didn't expect we would go with a group,” he told Cycling Pro. “I expected a controlled pace, but they really attacked from the bottom, which was quite a hard climb, and then Jonas went at the top, and I knew I had to follow. Until the finish, I wasn't sure we would make it."

The peloton arrived just too late, but Pogacar was too strong in the sprint for van der Poel. Vingegaard surprisingly overtook him as well. "I just didn’t have the legs anymore. As I said before the start, this is what I could not train in the last few weeks," he said, referring to his sprint. His wrist injury in a mountain bike crash somewhat restricted his training in recent weeks. "I felt I was at my limit at the top of the climb, and I hoped my legs would recover a bit before the sprint, but that wasn't the case. But to be honest, I'm quite happy with my performance.2

We saw van der Poel at the front 40 kilometers from the finish, and he was also very attentive on the final climb. "I just tried to stay at the front on the climb to see what would happen. Staying in the bunch was also an option, but when Vingegaard attacked, and Tadej followed, I had to go too. That's how we got away with a small group. He seemed to have what it takes among the climbers. "I was in a different weight class there," he laughs. “But I'm glad I was in the decisive move. I'm a little disappointed I couldn't finish it, but I'm happy with how I performed today."