Rivals quake as Mathieu van der Poel hopes Strade Bianche 'is just the start' this spring
The Dutchman's repeated explosive attacks towards the Piazza del Campo went unanswered by the world's best riders

After a week where his rockets have blown up upon landing and Tesla's market cap slides in the wrong direction, Elon Musk may want to give Mathieu van der Poel a call, the Dutchman successfully commencing liftoff and his stock continuing to rise - and it's anyone's guess how much higher it can go - after the spectacular fashion in which he took victory at Strade Bianche.
"I felt really good today," Van der Poel said, his post-race comments much more understated than his bike racing.
"On the last gravel section (Le Tolfe) I attacked and took Alaphilippe and Bernal with me. I felt that I still had something left in my legs on the final climb...to top it off like this is insane."
Van der Poel was always going to be the man to beat after that particular trio clipped off and went clear of their rivals, and the Alpecin-Fenix star says Alaphilippe had already admitted his legs were done for the day.
>>> ‘I’ll be there soon’ says Tom Pidcock after impressing once more with top five at Strade Bianche
"I noticed that Alaphilippe was getting a bit tired. He also said that his legs were a bit less and therefore skipped a few turns. Bernal, on the other hand, gave a very strong impression. I hope this is the start of a great spring campaign."
Alaphilippe is in agreement, despite being unaccustomed to getting ridden off someone's wheel. Usually, the world champion is the afflicter.
"I did my best, but Van der Poel was the strongest," Alaphilippe conceded. "I don't regret anything because I didn't do anything wrong. At 20km from the finish, I still attacked…I wasn't feeling that bad.
"I remained focused on the latter sector, but you could already see how strong Van der Poel was. On the final climb you could really see how [well] he was going."
For Wout van Aert, Van der Poel's usual nemesis on both the road and at cyclocross meets, the Belgian is still finding his feet, having made his 2021 road debut at Strade Bianche and not being able to match the Dutchman's accelerations, eventually leading the group behind over the line to take fourth place.
"I was there, but I wasn't good enough in the final," Van Aert said. "When Alaphilippe accelerated, I ran into difficulties. Then I already knew it wouldn't be my day.
"That [extra] gear is not there yet. I would not be the first, but I will still take [the race for] fourth. So I took the maximum out of it.
"In this race the strongest always wins and that was Mathieu today. His acceleration on that last stretch said enough."
It's now up to this talented array of rivals to come up with an answer to Van der Poel, with even bigger one-day prizes still to come this spring. Regardless of whether they do or not, fans will likely still be left speechless.
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Hi. I'm Cycling Weekly's Weekend Editor. I like writing offbeat features and eating too much bread when working out on the road at bike races.
Before joining Cycling Weekly I worked at The Tab and I've also written for Vice, Time Out, and worked freelance for The Telegraph (I know, but I needed the money at the time so let me live).
I also worked for ITV Cycling between 2011-2018 on their Tour de France and Vuelta a España coverage. Sometimes I'd be helping the producers make the programme and other times I'd be getting the lunches. Just in case you were wondering - Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen had the same ham sandwich every day, it was great.
-
-
Five talking points from stage 12 of the Giro d'Italia 2022
It was a long, hot, and fast day from Parma to Genoa
By Adam Becket • Published
-
Can a classic steel race bike beat a modern superbike?
We fit power meter pedals to a Colnago C68 and a Colnago Master Olympic and ride them back to back to find out what 30 years of progress translates to in the real world. As it turns out? 14 seconds.
By Simon Smythe • Published
-
Mathieu van der Poel relaxed about rest of Giro d'Italia: 'We already achieved everything we wanted'
Dutchman looking to enjoy the next two weeks of the Grand Tour, after completing his goal of wearing pink
By Ryan Dabbs • Published
-
'I would have signed for this before': Van der Poel holds onto pink jersey at Giro d'Italia with second on time trial
Dutchman hopes to hold onto race lead until Sicily
By Adam Becket • Published
-
'It really hurt' — Mathieu van der Poel on his first Giro d'Italia stage win
Dutchman leads race after stage one in Hungary
By Adam Becket • Published
-
Mathieu van der Poel storms to victory on stage one of the Giro d'Italia
Alpecin-Fenix rider claims pink jersey after his win, Biniam Girmay in second
By Adam Becket • Published
-
Mathieu van der Poel says he didn't have the legs to follow everybody at Amstel Gold Race
Dutchman says that Tour of Flanders suits him better after Amstel fourth place
By Adam Becket • Published
-
'Winning is not as easy as everyone thinks' — Mathieu van der Poel after second Tour of Flanders victory
Dutchman says he was calm heading into the sprint on Sunday
By Adam Becket • Published
-
Can Mathieu van der Poel beat Wout van Aert at Tour of Flanders? Dutchman says he'll need to get better
Despite winning at Dwars door Vlaanderen, Alpecin-Fenix rider says Flanders is another step up
By Adam Becket • Published
-
Mathieu van der Poel declares 'I'm ready' ahead of Tour of Flanders
The Alpecin-Fenix rider says Tadej Pogačar is going to be a big threat on Sunday
By Adam Becket • Published