Mathieu van der Poel explains why winning sprint in Tirreno-Adriatico was 'very difficult'

Mathieu van der Poel has secured his second win of the road season. After the Dutchman won Omloop Het Nieuwsblad immediately upon his return, he struck again today in stage two of Tirreno-Adriatico. However, this time it was a lot tougher.

"It was very tough," said Van der Poel, who narrowly beat Isaac Del Toro and Giulio Pellizzari in a three-man sprint. "The level was incredibly high on the final climb. Especially with the rain in the last half hour, it was quite tricky. But the team did an amazing job."

Van der Poel positioned himself well at the front at the start of the decisive gravel section. "First Julian Alaphilippe went. I wanted to take the lead because I knew there were a few tricky corners. Besides, I wanted to make the race as hard as possible."

Slippery road surface
In the end, MVDP was at the front together with Del Toro and Pellizzari. The sprint that followed was 'very difficult,' he admitted. "The road surface was quite slippery, so it was really hard to sprint standing up. I had just enough energy saved to win."

The leader of Alpecin-Premier Tech is at Tirreno-Adriatico to prepare for Milan-San Remo and the upcoming classics. "But of course, I also wanted to win a stage. Last year I came close a few times but didn’t manage it, so I’m happy to take a stage win at Tirreno again now."