Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) will be giving his post-pneumonia racing form a test next week, lining up at the five-day Renewi Tour from August 20-24.
The 2020 winner of the event hasn't pinned a number on since having to walk away from the Tour de France – where he won the second stage and twice wore yellow – before stage 16 on July 22 when his cold symptoms worsened and it was revealed he had pneumonia.
His first step back will be at an exhibition event in the Netherlands on Sunday, the Profronde Etten-Leur criterium, while Wednesday will mark his return to WorldTour racing.
"This summer I haven’t raced since abandoning the Tour de France, so it’s a bit of a question how the form is," said Van der Poel in quotes shared by race organisers on social media. "But the course suits me, specially the stage finishing in Geraardsbergen on the third day. That is one I have marked in red.”
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The opening stage from Terneuzen to Breskens is expected to be one for the sprinters, as is the second stage from Blankenberge to Ardooie – which replicates last year's stage 3 which was won by Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek). But it is the stage from Aalter to Geraardsbergen that both marks the halfway point of the race and which has really caught Van der Poel's eye.
It is on this 179.9km stage with 1688m of elevation gain that the race heads towards the Flemish Ardennes, taking a route to the finish line in Geraardsbergen that includes both hills and cobbled sectors. It also passes over the iconic Muur van Geraardsbergen multiple times as it loops around.
Van der Poel won on the 2020 Renewi Tour stage to Geraardsbergen, then positioned as the final battle of the victory and a triumph that also moved him up from fifth to the top spot overall.
This year, however, once the Geraardsbergen finish line is crossed there are still two more days of racing to play out. Stage 4 from Riemst to Bilzen-Hoeselt delivers rolling roads and short climbs and then it's a challenging finale for stage 5 with 1,604m of vertical climbing to Leuven.
"I have good memories of the Renewi Tour, especially my victory in 2020," said Van der Poel. "Last year I was in a good position, until knee pain after a near-crash in the time trial unfortunately forced me to skip the final stage."
Last year Van der Poel turned his focus to the European, Road World and Gravel World Championships through the latter part of the season, winning the gravel rainbow bands and stepping onto the podium at the Road World Championships. This year the rider who has already won world titles across three cycling disciplines - road, gravel and cyclocross – has made the Mountain Bike World Championships XCO race on September 14 a key target, expressing his determination to stick to that goal in June even after his one World Cup outing so far this season, Nové Město, ended with a DNF and a wrist injury.
Fellow cross discipline powerhouse Tom Pidcock (Q36.5) is doing the opposite this year, with the 2023 mountain bike World Champion and two-time gold medallist in the discipline skipping the mountain bike rainbow race and prioritising the Vuelta a España instead.
