Ex-Vuelta winner Chris Horner criticizes Mathieu van der Poel's 'ridiculous tactic' in Tirreno-Adriatico

In his (very straightforward) analysis of the final stage of Tirreno-Adriatico, former Vuelta a España winner Chris Horner has few kind words for Mathieu van der Poel. Horner claims to have witnessed several ‘stupid’ moves from the two-time stage winner and said he was not being a team player towards his teammate Jasper Philipsen.

The outspoken American points to the moment around 97 kilometers from the finish, when first the domestiques from Alpecin-Premier Tech and later Van der Poel himself ramped up the pace on a tough climb. They single-handedly caused many sprinters to fall behind, including their own fast man Jasper Philipsen.

“The plan was to hurt some sprinters. As a team, we executed our plan well,” MVDP responded afterward to the colleagues at VTM.

Unjustified, according to Horner’s analysis. “When I see that, I think: Mathieu van der Poel, are you really doing what I think you’re doing? Are you a 100% idiot here? The moment his last teammate drops off, he keeps hammering away. Jasper Philipsen must be wondering: what’s going on? What is this guy doing? To me, it’s clear Van der Poel is trying to get a good training ride in ahead of Milan-San Remo, but tactically that’s ridiculous. Idiocy at its best.”

Horner accuses Van der Poel of not being a team player. “Don’t tell me how fantastic this is for Milan-San Remo. If you don’t have enough form to do a lead-out for Jasper in stage three, and now you’re pulling at the front hammering away, that’s very strange. But it gets even funnier. The best sprinter in the world is dropped by his own teammate.”

In the end, Philipsen came back and we saw a bunch sprint in San Benedetto del Tronto. The fast rider from Limburg couldn’t contest the sprint due to a crash in the last three kilometers, but according to Horner, even that could have been avoided. “If Van der Poel had done the lead-out, they would always have been safely up front. He could have delivered Jasper a fantastic victory. Instead, he’s at the back after going for a training ride,” concludes the American with a flair for exaggeration.