Zonneveld sees motivated van der Poel heading into the Tour sharper than ever: "It’s going to be a party"

Van der Poel rode around France with an enormous attacking spirit. From day one, the former world champion was at the front despite a fracture in his wrist that made his preparation difficult. "He's fine,” Zonneveld said in his podcast In de Waaier with Hidde van Warmerdam. It promises great things for the Tour de France, especially in the first week, which suits him perfectly. “If you look at van der Poel after a week in the Dauphiné, he will be there. It's going to be a party.”

The eight-time Monument winner has only won one stage in the Tour de France so far, four years ago. But he seems to be in much better shape now. "We haven't seen this from him often at this time of year. Normally, he would ride the spring classics and then be a step behind. That's not the case at all now. He seems to have been really looking forward to it every day. Even in the big mountain stages, he was attacking."

Pogacar won the overall classification, seemingly with ease. But Zonneveld sees through the Slovenian's façade. He won the stage to Valmeinier 1800 on Saturday but lost much time to Jonas Vingegaard in the last kilometer. Afterward, he said he was already saving himself a little. "I have mixed feelings about that. I didn't think he looked so fresh anymore, either."

In the final stage, the sporting director of BEAT Cycling was not really impressed by the yellow jersey wearer either. “He was quite defensive, a bit dull. After following his Danish rival, he decided not to go for second place in the stage, behind winner Lenny Martinez. "When Vingegaard wanted to sprint, he stared straight ahead: I don't want to sprint anymore. You could see it coming that he wasn't going to make any more effort. He didn't even cheer because he won the Dauphiné."

In short, the image Pogacar is creating that he is much better than Vingegaard is just acting. The Dauphiné also took its toll on the world champion. "They also raced very hard for several days. It was tough, especially since Friday was very impressive. Saturday, over the Madeleine and the Croix de Fer, wasn't that impressive; it wasn't too bad. There's room for improvement, but I think many guys were exhausted there."