Mathieu van der Poel's season steps up a level at Tirreno-Adriatico as he looks for 'the extra few percent' that will allow him to fight for the Spring Classics and take on Tadej Pogačar.
Pogačar has opted not to ride Tirreno-Adriatico and will only race again at Milan-San Remo as part of his seven-week Classics campaign. Wout Van Aert will not even ride La Classicissima, opting to train at altitude for three weeks in March to peak for the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
Van der Poel has only raced once on the road so far in 2025 after opting to target a seventh cyclocross world title in early February. He won last week's Le Samyn but is taking a different road to peak form.
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He has spent the last few weeks training in Spain and sleeping at the Syncrosfera altitude hotel. Seven days of racing in Italy will allow him to test his form and polish his racing skills.
"I've done enough training. I need to race for my objectives that are coming up," Van der Poel explained in the Tirreno-Adriatico pre-race press conference on Sunday in a rainy Lido di Camaiore on the Tuscan coast.
Van der Poel won two stages at Tirreno-Adriatico in 2021 but also went too deep in long attacks in the rain and did not win a Spring Classic afterward that year. He will race with more care and calculation this year so he remains strong and fresh for the Tour of Flanders (April 6) and Paris-Roubaix (April 13).
He won both Classics in 2024, plus E3 Saxo Classic and finished second in Gent-Wevelgem after attacking during Milan-San Remo to set up teammate Jasper Philipsen for the sprint in Via Roma.
Van der Poel only started racing at Milan-San Remo in 2024 but he has preferred to add a week of racing at Tirreno-Adriatico this year.
"I'm a big fan of altitude and training, for sure, but everybody has a different periodization," he explained.
"We think it's best to race now because my last percentages have always come from racing, so that's why we do it this way again this year, like we did in the past. I think it's something that has proven to be successful, so I have to trust it."
The Dutchman celebrated his partner's birthday on Saturday and trained at home rather than ride or watch Strade Bianche. He won the Italian race in 2021 but was happy to avoid it this year.
"It's a super nice race and I have good memories of my win but now it's more of a climber's race and I have to be realistic, my goals are elsewhere," he said.
"You have to make choices, you can't ride everywhere. I want to be at my best in the goals I set."
Van der Poel dropped Pogačar to win Milan-San Remo in 2023 but then lost to him in a sprint at the 2023 Tour of Flanders. Van der Poel won the 2023 World Championships in Glasgow but Pogačar took the rainbow jersey in 2024. Their battles are expected to continue this spring and beyond in one of the great rivalries of the sport.
Van der Poel was impressed with Pogačar's third Strade Bianche victory. They are different trajectories to yet more major shown down at Milan-San Remo and then in the cobbled Classics, with Pogačar perhaps tempted to also invade Van der Poel's terrain and ride Paris-Roubaix.
"It's crazy how strong he is. So I think he's a guy to watch now in cycling," Van der Poel conceded.
Van der Poel and Pogačar are friendly rivals and have even trained together and swapped messages. There is no malice in their rivalry.
"I think we have a pretty good relationship, and there's a mutual respect between us," he said.
"There's always been someone who dominates in cycling. The disadvantage of being so strong is that people always look at you in a different way and maybe support the underdog a bit more. It's just how it is in sports."
In theory, Van der Poel is the faster sprinter of the two, but the Classics are not that logical as Van der Poel discovered in the 2023 Tour of Flanders sprint.
"I don't fear him but of course, I know he's going to be very difficult to beat. He dropped me once already in the Tour of Flanders when I was maybe at my best. So I think it's also not something to be ashamed of if he beats me.
"We can see how strong he is in every race he rides. It gives me a lot of motivation to try and beat him. For me, Pogačar is the guy to beat."
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