The high mountains may not be his natural terrain, but nevertheless, Mathieu van der Poel completed one final day in the breakaway at the Critérium du Dauphiné as the race concluded atop the Plateau du Mont-Cenis.
Only three weeks have passed since the Dutchman crashed twice and fractured his right wrist in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup round in Nové Mesto, and here he is, fully prepared to take on the Tour de France next month.
Van der Poel was back on his indoor trainer three days after sustaining the fracture, while he headed to the Dauphiné with just two weeks of recovery time under his belt.
Eight days of racing later, he has five top-10 finishes to his name, including two stage podiums, and he missed out on the green points jersey by the narrowest of margins, finishing the race level on points with overall champion and triple stage winner Tadej Pogačar.
Speaking after the conclusion of stage 8, which saw Van der Poel attack multiple times to make the break and then race solo at the front for 40km before he was reeled in, he said he was more than happy with his week's work.
"I'm actually very happy with the week. Of course, it would've been nice to win a stage and the green jersey, but I think overall I can be very happy with how I've passed the week," Van der Poel told CyclingPro.
"It was a very hard week, and it was exactly what I needed for the Tour, so I'm satisfied."
Van der Poel will head up Alpecin-Deceuninck's Tour de France team alongside star sprinter and nine-time Tour stage winner Jasper Philipsen. He'll work in the lead-out for his teammate once again, while also seeking out chances at glory himself.
He was confident in both his and his team's abilities to achieve the results they seek next month, while also sounding a note of caution.
"Let's hope so, but of course, the Tour is something else. It will be a chaotic first week, so hopefully we can manage to win a stage already," Van der Poel said, before asserting that a challenging week of racing at the Dauphiné is exactly what he needed to be ready for the Tour.
"For sure, the hardness, but that's not a problem anymore, I think. I'll need a few days to recover, and then I can still train hard towards the Tour de France," he said.
"I think I need a race like this, a stage race where I'm on the limit every day. I think it will help me to get my best shape."
