Christoph Roodhooft calls Mathieu van der Poel's favorite status 'exaggerated'

Christoph Roodhooft finds Mathieu van der Poel’s status as favorite somewhat "exaggerated," he says in an interview with HLN. According to Roodhooft, Van der Poel’s debut in the race and the fact that the Omloop is only the first race of the season for him must be taken into account.

"For him, late February is already early to start road racing," the Belgian explains. "A month ago, he was still racing cyclocross. Of course, he’s in good shape, otherwise he wouldn’t start. But only after that was clear to us did we finally make the decision. There's no point in starting if you're not ready."

Roodhooft also doesn’t expect Van der Poel to take a solo win. This also has to do with the course. "The Omloop is not an easy race. It’s tough, and past editions have shown that it’s not simple to break away in the deep finale.

"The Muur and the Bosberg are definitely not easy climbs, but everyone is so focused on them that it’s also hard to escape there. Moreover, after both the Muur and the Bosberg there’s a fairly long descent, where the wind this year will also blow in favor. After the Bosberg, the chasers will always keep their cadence strong. You have to be a very strong rider to succeed then."

"Honestly: I don’t think anyone will manage to arrive alone. It will have to be a small group of strong men," he concludes.