Mathieu van der Poel and Jasper Philipsen will again team-up and unite at the Tour de France, with the Dutchman targeting the opening weekend in Barcelona and then hillier stages, while Philipsen takes aim at the sprint stages and the green points jersey.
Their talents and goals overlap somewhat but they have created a fearsome combination in recent years at Alpecin-Premier Tech, becoming sprinting and Classics race brothers in arms.
"We've never really had a fight so far, so it's all good," Philipsen joked during the top rider press conference in Barcelona on Thursday.
Latest Videos From
"I think we match very well with our capabilities. We also have clear stages that we can target at the Tour. I have to wait a little longer until stage 5 to Pau for the first big sprint chance, while Mathieu's chances come earlier.
"We just try to aim as well as possible to have a successful Tour, both for ourselves and for our team."
Philipsen won stage 1 in Lille last year and Van der Poel won stage 2 but then Philipsen crashed out on stage 3 and van der Poel came down with pneumonia after two weeks and was forced to abandon the Tour.
"Last year the Tour started really well for us but unfortunately, Jasper crashed and I became sick. Hopefully we can do it again this year, but then keep it going until Paris," Van der Poel said.
"I've had some good and bad Tours, hopefully this is a good one. We have a nice team here, we hope to go for it again. You need the legs to win in the first place but I like the stages that are like Classics."
The team time trial
Alpecin-Premier Tech recently trained for the Tour de France TTT on the motor racing circuit in Zolder in Belgium. Van der Poel went close to beating Tadej Pogačar in the Tour de Suisse time trial and will try to produce a similar performance on Saturday.
"I've been spending more hours on the bike than I usually do, so it was nice to work on this," Van der Poel said.
"I don't think there's something special in the strategy, it's about getting to the finish as fast as possible to the last two climbs and the technical section. Then it will be up to me to launch there and go to the finish. We don't have a GC [contender] and that makes it a bit nicer for us."
Van der Poel also seems ready to fight with the GC riders on the hilly stage 2 circuits of Montjuïc but fears Pogačar and Evenepoel.
Philipsen believes there are five or six possible sprint stages, including the final stage to Paris, despite the new Montemartre circuit.
"I think the sprinters will always be motivated to ride to Paris," he said, considering the many mountain stages in the final week of the Tour. "I think the Montmartre finish is still a chance of a sprint finish because the climb is a bit far from the finish this year."
"For the strong sprinters, I think there's another chance on stage 12 too. Of course the hardest part of the Tour is the last week and you just have to survive it.
"This year there are maybe four or six chances but you never know how the peloton rides the stages. We try to win as many as possible."
Philipsen accepts he will have to wait until stage 5 in Pau for the first sprinter's showdown.
"It's just how it is. The TT is important for the team and so will be all out. Then there are stages to get the legs going, to be ready for stage 5. That's the first real test for my Tour de France."
The world’s biggest bike race deserves world-class coverage. Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our unrivalled reporting of the 2026 Tour de France. From Barcelona through to Paris, our experienced team will bring you breaking news, expert insight, and in-depth coverage from every stage as the battle for the yellow jersey plays out. Plus, access the Cyclingnews app to follow the action on the go! Find out more.
