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There was a lot of debate about Mathieu van der Poel inside the final hour of the Amstel Gold Race. Holding back rather than pressing ahead, the decisive attacks seen in the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and other races were absent.
TV commentators speculated that he was playing a tactical game, allowing groups to go up the road before blasting across to them and then leapfrogging to victory. But as the kilometres ticked down he remained sedate, close to the front of the main group and watching everything, but never unleashing the now-expected acceleration.
“I was definitely fine, but I didn’t have super legs,” he accepted after the race, speaking to HLN.be and others.
A dozen riders were at the front of the race heading into the final 30km, with eventual winner Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) and three others then pressing ahead.
Van der Poel finished in the group sprinting for 10th place, 11 seconds back, and placed 22nd. It was his first time outside the top 10 this season, but he didn’t seem too downcast.
“As a team we certainly did well, but on the intermediate part there was a big group away,” he said. “Of course, the races that suit me best are already over. In those races, we also came out best as a team. Without a doubt, it’s already been a fantastic season.”
The world champion has won three out of six road races this season, but accepted defeat. “I can’t expect it to be a prize every weekend,” he said. “It’s more likely that you won’t win than you do win.”
He has one more target during this classics block, namely next Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège. It’s one of the five monuments and with three already ticked off, is one of the two remaining targets to complete a very rare sequence.
That and Il Lombardia tend to favor lighter riders, but he’ll do what he can anyway. He will head to his training base in Spain and then return in time to Liège for the oldest of the classics.
“Next week is a new week and then we’ll see,” he said.