Alpecin-Deceuninck manager Christoph Roodhooft has said that his team hasn't yet made plans to battle for the Tour de France green jersey.
Instead, the Belgian revealed that the main goal for his team leaders, Jasper Philipsen and Mathieu van der Poel, will be a stage victory at the Grand Tour.
During the past four editions of the Tour, Philipsen and Van der Poel have combined to take 10 stage wins, a green jersey for the Belgian in 2023, and several days in yellow for the Dutchman in 2021.
Van der Poel has worked as the final lead-out man for Philipsen during many of his nine stage victories as the pair have formed a successful sprint partnership. They'll pair up once again in July, with Van der Poel also seeking his own chances at success.
"We haven't thought that far yet," Roodhooft told Sporza when asked about the green jersey. "The priority is the mass sprint on day one.
"For non-climbers, it is a more pleasant Tour to go to. We always go with the ambition to win a stage. We're not going to change that, even if that sometimes sounds like too moderate an ambition. That's certainly not obvious."
With a mass sprint finish expected on stage 1 in Lille, Philipsen has a shot at the first stage win of the race and with it the yellow jersey. With four further sprint days and Classics-style hilly stages following in the first week, Van der Poel can also have ambitions of riding into yellow.
Roodhooft acknowledged that riders such as Van der Poel and his career-long rival Wout van Aert have a chance to do just that.
"In a Tour that is so planned, all the types like Mathieu and Wout van Aert have that in their minds," he said. "With the bonuses in the first stages, he can automatically gain some margin towards the time trial. These are opportunities that he must take when they arise."
Van der Poel impressed at the recent Critérium du Dauphiné, his first race back since fracturing his wrist in a mountain bike crash at the end of May.
He made the break on three of the eight stages, scoring four top-10 placings along the way, and narrowly missing out on the green points jersey.
After the race, he said, "It was a very hard week, and it was exactly what I needed for the Tour, so I'm happy." Roodhooft was also pleased with his efforts.
"We went there with the ambition to win a stage, and Mathieu also narrowly missed out on the green jersey. We can be satisfied in terms of training intensity. That goal was certainly achieved," he said.
"Mathieu will still suffer from [his wrist], but in the adrenaline and hectic pace of the race, it wasn't too bad in the end. I think it will be completely forgotten and off the table in three weeks' time - by the start of the Tour."
