Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) couldn't help but have mixed feelings after narrowly missing out on the victory on a thrilling opening stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné.
While he was aware that finishing third from a star-studded late break was a positive sign of his best form coming back after a recent wrist fracture, he was still "disappointed" that he wasn't able to beat Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) or Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) to the line in Montluçon.
The former world champion looked every bit himself as he followed the moves up the steep final categorised climb with 7km left to race, before latching onto Vingegaard's stinging move 5.5km from the line, that also enticed Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) to break away.
Had he not fractured his wrist in a mountain bike race just two weeks ago, Van der Poel would have been the massive favourite to win from the star-studded move, which narrowly survived to beat the chasing bunch.
However, he revealed pre-stage that he'd lacked full-gas intensity in his disrupted training, and it turned out he was missing his typically unbeatable explosive kick to the line because of this. Pogačar, unlike at this year's Milan-San Remo, surged from behind the Dutchman to take the stage from him, with Vingegaard in second.
"I just didn't have the legs any more, like I said before the race, I could not train in the last weeks," said Van der Poel to reporters after the finish.
"I really felt I was on the limit over the top of the climb, and I hoped my legs would recover a bit for the final sprint, but that was not the case. But to be honest, I'm quite happy with the performance today."
Van der Poel was the only non-pure climber to make it into the final move after the Côte du Buffon, which played into his simultaneous satisfaction and disappointment, knowing full well that at top shape, he would beat Pogačar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel easily in this sprint.
"I didn't expect that we would go with a group. I expected more of a controlled pace, but then they really attacked from the bottom, and it was a hard climb," said Van der Poel, who was exhausted at the line.
"Then, Jonas attacked on top, and I knew I had to follow. Then, until the finish, I was not sure if we were going to make it.
"I was in a different weight class there, but I'm happy I was in this decisive move. But, of course, also a bit disappointed that I could not finish it off."
Van der Poel should get more chances to take his first WorldTour stage win since the 2022 Giro d'Italia, with more undulating terrain arriving on stages 2, 3 and 5 at the Dauphiné, and he'll be hoping the intensity from stage 1 adds to his shape going forward.
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