Mathieu van der Poel has made a surprise and late decision to start his 2025 road racing season a week earlier than planned and will ride the Ename Samyn Classic race on the cobbled of southern Belgium on Tuesday.
The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider was expected to make his season debut at next week's Tirreno-Adriatico but is apparently itching to race again.
“If the itch gets too strong, you just have to race!” van der Poel said when Alpecin-Deceuninck confirmed his presence in their line-up for the race on Monday.
The Alpecin-Deceuninck line-up also includes Kiwi mountain biker Sam Gaze.
The Dutchman won the cyclocross world title on February 2 and then took a few days off before heading to Spain for a training camp at the Syncrosfera altitude hotel.
Rain is forecast for Spain this week and van der Poel perhaps saw the warmer and drier weather forecast for Belgium and decided to scratch his itch to get racing again.
According to reports in Belgium, van der Poel was quietly added to the Alpecin-Deceuninck entry list for Samyn at the weekend and Sep Vanmarcke former rider suggested it was possible during Het Nieuwsblad's cycling podcast on Sunday evening.
“If it’s true, it will be a completely different race,” Vanmarcke suggested.
Van der Poel will face Arnaud De Lie (Lotto), Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep), Hugo Hofstetter (Israel-Premier Tech) and Tim Torn Teutenberg (Lidl-Trek) but has a chance of winning on his season debut.
Van der Poel will apparently not change his racing programme any further and is not expected to ride next Saturday's Strade Bianche and so go up against Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).
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