Mathieu van der Poel ignores unfavorable stats: "Never even thought about it"

The question was in the air: did Mathieu van der Poel today think about the statistic that no one has ever won both Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the Tour of Flanders in the same year? The answer was short and clear. "Not once," he said with a laugh.

For Van der Poel, those historical facts don’t matter. He’s simply happy to win his debut in this semi-classic. His real goals still lie ahead: Flanders and Roubaix. "Everyone knows how strong Tadej Pogacar is there, but I’ll do what I can to be in my best possible shape and then we’ll see."

How do you feel after the race?
The conditions were quite tough with the wind, the stress all day, and then the rain and cold. It’s definitely not an easy race, but I still felt pretty good at the end.

Did you enjoy it?
Yes, actually. Only the weather could have been better, but it didn’t affect me too much. We had a good clothing strategy which helped us hold on to the finale. The Muur and the Bosberg are climbs that suit me well. The tailwind also helped today towards the finish.

So, will you come back?
I don’t know yet, but everything went perfectly today, so that’s a good sign.

Did the race go as you expected?
Not really. For us, the Molenberg was the crucial point, but usually the race stays together until the Muur. Our plan was actually to wait until the Muur, but because of the conditions the race was decided earlier.

Tim van Dijke (second place) said he still can’t believe how much effort you put into your training this winter. Tell us what happens in December and January when no one is watching?
We train hard, but I think everyone does that. I still enjoy the process of building up to a race. Now that I’m older, the engine gets bigger, so you can also train more and harder. It’s no secret that I enjoy tough training sessions and long days.

You’re 31 now. Do you think this is the period when you’re most capable and have your biggest engine?
Yes, I think so. It’s part of the growth I’ve gone through. Cycling is also changing; when I see what guys aged 19 or 20 are doing now, I wasn’t doing that at that age. That explains why I still have a bit of margin at the moment, but honestly, I don’t see that with the new generation.

Is that because you took it easier at the start of your career?
If you’re already training 30 hours a week as a junior, it’s hard to make big steps as you get older. But that’s how cycling is today; they’re already at an impressive level at that age. I’m not saying it’s bad, it’s just different from when I was that age.

How did you avoid that crash on the Molenberg? That was incredible.
No idea. My cyclocross background definitely helped. You see something happening and you react. The Molenberg is a decisive moment anyway, but because of this incident everyone behind Florian (Vermeersch, ed.) completely lost their speed. That made it even harder and that’s also why the split happened afterwards. For me, it wasn’t bad in the end, but it was obviously not something I planned.

You had less than a second to react.
Sometimes that’s better. Then you don’t think, you just react and do what you’ve learned. The experience from cyclocross helps. I did everything to avoid riding over his head. You always have to stay alert; we knew it was a crucial point and with the rain, we knew the cobbles would be slippery.

What will you do for Tirreno or San Remo? Will you do a training camp at altitude?
No, I’m just staying here. I feel comfortable with this preparation, just like I’ve done all these years, so we’ll stick to that.

No one has ever won Omloop and the Tour of Flanders in the same year. How often did you think about that today?
Not once. (Laughs) I’m just happy to win this race. My big goals are still Flanders and Roubaix. Everyone knows how strong Tadej is there, but I’ll do what I can to be in my best shape and then we’ll see.

Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne is still missing from your palmares. Will you ride it tomorrow?
We don’t know yet. We’ll decide that later at the hotel. We wanted to start with this race first and then we’ll see about tomorrow. With Jasper or Kaden, we also have a good chance to win tomorrow. Maybe I’ll just do a long training ride tomorrow.