Mathieu van der Poel unperturbed by Tour de France expectations

Mathieu van der Poel is making his Tour de France debut
Mathieu van der Poel is making his Tour de France debut (Image credit: Alpecin-Fenix)

Mathieu van der Poel has compared the pressure and expectation for the opening stages of this year's Tour de France to that of a major Classic like the Tour of Flanders, indicating he is able to handle it all and fight for victory on Saturday's opening stage on the uphill finish in Landerneau.

If Van der Poel manages to win the stage and so take the first yellow jersey -something his late grandfather Raymond Poulidor never did, despite finishing second three times - it would create a hugely symbolic and emotional moment for the Duchman and for the 2021 Tour de France.    

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Stephen Farrand
Head of News

Stephen is the most experienced member of the Cyclingnews team, having reported on professional cycling since 1994. He has been Head of News at Cyclingnews since 2022, before which he held the position of European editor since 2012 and previously worked for Reuters, Shift Active Media, and CyclingWeekly, among other publications.