Danny van Poppel skips opening weekend to focus on Tirreno-Adriatico
Don’t be surprised if Danny van Poppel contests the sprints on Wednesday (stage three) and Sunday (stage seven) at Tirreno-Adriatico 2026. The Dutch champion is allowed to lead out his own sprints this season with Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe. To make a strong impression in Italy, he skipped the Opening Weekend in consultation with his German team.
The 32-year-old from North Brabant said last winter that he would, for the first time in a few years, ride Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne again. However, he did not participate there, but appeared in the Ename Samyn Classic the following Tuesday, where he led Jordi Meeus to victory. “To start with, things didn’t go well in Australia,” Van Poppel told WielerFlits about the Tour Down Under.
“Besides that, I suffered quite a bit from jet lag when I got back. My winter was also very short (he raced as late as the NIBC Tour of Holland, ed.). In consultation with the team, they then said: ‘Danny, train well. And start again at Tirreno-Adriatico.’ I was very happy with that because I needed a solid training block after such a short winter. It worked out well.”
“In the end, they still called me up to do Le Samyn,” continues the Dutch champion. “I like that, and racing a bit before Tirreno-Adriatico is always good. In hindsight, I regretted not doing the Opening Weekend. There was definitely a good opportunity. Especially that last day, I saw on TV that the lead-out wasn’t running smoothly in Kuurne,” he analyses.
“I know I can be very valuable for Jordi there. But well, that’s no longer the case (he refers to the fact that Van Poppel is no longer Meeus’s lead-out, ed.). In Samyn, I really had to get used to the jostling, but after an hour of racing, you adapt. I felt fine. Not super, but I could compete well. And when your team wins, you can never go wrong.”
Build-up to the Giro
After the disappointing Tour Down Under, Tirreno-Adriatico is the next stage race where Van Poppel hopes to score, as he builds up to his main goal of the year: the Giro d'Italia. He will head there as a finisher, a role proposed to the Dutch champion by Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe. Last year, he sprinted to victory four times himself, so the team wants to give it a try for a year.
Van Poppel himself has previously said he will no longer perform lead-outs for sprinters who are not among the world’s elite. He is now a sprinter again instead of a helper for a team leader. In the flat stages, he is allowed to chase his own chances. “I’m excited to go to the Giro in that red-white-blue jersey. I wanted to race a Grand Tour as national champion, and that leaves only the Giro. Who knows, maybe it will happen. I’m going to give it my best shot; we’re going for it. Without pressure. I believe I can win there,” Van Poppel said.
After Tirreno-Adriatico, he will race Milan-San Remo and Gent-Wevelgem. After that, he will head to a training camp at altitude as preparation for the Giro. This means he won’t ride the Tour de France for the first time since 2021. “In the interest of a GC team, in recent years I sometimes did stages with a heavy heart, where I had to drop off in the final kilometres. To be honest, I’d rather go to the Tour with a top sprinter and aim to win stages there.”
