After winning every cyclo-cross race he's taken part in this season for a second year running, it's perhaps no surprise that Mathieu van der Poel is looking for fresh fields to conquer, and after battling for a record-breaking eighth Cyclo-cross World Championships title in early February, the Alpecin-Premier Tech pro could be looking for a new challenge on his road calendar, too.
In an interview with Wielerflits after he conquered the cyclo-cross World Cup round in Benidorm on Sunday with jaw-dropping ease, Van der Poel says he is now considering making his debut at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad on February 28.
While Van der Poel has never ridden the Opening Weekend, his track record across all the other cobbled Classics, which already includes three Tours of Flanders and three editions of Paris-Roubaix, would automatically make him the stand-out favourite. It would also bring him directly into a face-off with, amongst others, one of his top rivals for many years, Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike).
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Van Aert has already confirmed he'll be starting his season in Opening Weekend, with others on the provisional start list including Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5), Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché) and former winner Jasper Stuyven (Soudal-QuickStep).
Van der Poel's spring program has yet to be announced. For now, all that's been established is he will ride the last two rounds of the World Cup cyclo-cross series on January 24 and January 25 before going to the World Championships in Hulst on February 1.
"It's at the back of my mind, but I haven't decided on it myself yet," Van der Poel told Wielerflits.
As for his latest triumph in Benidorm, Van der Poel agreed that the presence of teammate Tibor Del Grosso had helped set things up in the first lap. That was prior to the Dutchman striking out alone as soon as a small gap opened up coming into the first lap finish, when Toon Aerts (Lotto-Intermarché) went over the bars while on Van der Poel's wheel, briefly holding up the pack behind.
"With Tibor Del Grosso on my wheel, I turned into the finish zone. Del Grosso had put in a good first lap, but suddenly a gap opened up between the two of us. I kept going, and the gap to the rest was immediately established. I immediately made the decision to continue," Van der Poel explained in a post-race interview reported by Nieuwsblad.
Barring accidents or mechanical issues, win number 10 was all but a forgone conclusion from the moment he went clear, even though the course had had some changes, with the addition of a 100 metre sandpit. Bad weather had left some large puddles and a lot of mud, even if the temperatures were rising fast on Sunday afternoon, and some riders were unhappy with the heat.
"There were a few new sections, but let me say those changes didn't have much of an impact. Saturday's rain had created a few wet patches on the course. The sandpit wasn't really a place where you could make a real difference," Van der Poel said.
Asked if he had picked up a new bike in the final lap, specifically to do a wheelie on the approach to the finish line with a clean machine, Van der Poel skirted the issue. He joked instead that his idea had been more that his bike swap would give more time for the mechanics to clean the bike he'd used since the start of an occasionally very muddy race.
There were far fewer question marks over the wisdom of his decision to take part, only taken at the last minute, but which has ended with yet another triumph in what is arguably his best cyclo-cross season ever.
Last year, he also achieved an unbroken run of eight wins, but this year he is already up to ten straight victories, and barring major surprises, he could well end up with 13 consecutive triumphs.
For now, Van der Poel will, in any case, remain in the Alicante area, where he trains regularly and is based just a few kilometres away, before heading north to Holland for the final World Cup rounds and the World Championships sometime next week.
"I'm glad I started in Benidorm after all," he said, referring to his last-minute decision to take part.
"I hope the weather is better tomorrow [Monday] because they're predicting rain. I still have some training sessions planned."
