‘There’s not much left in the tank’: Mathieu van der Poel becomes latest rider to feel effects of mental fatigue

After competing in the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France this year, Dutchman explains that he will only race one Grand Tour in 2023

Mathieu van der Poel
van der Poel celebrates victory at the Tour of Flanders in April
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Mathieu van der Poel has become the latest high profile rider to admit to feeling the effects of mental fatigue in 2022. 

After a long season in which the Dutchman won the Tour of Flanders for a second time, before competing in both the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France, van der Poel explained that “there’s not much left in the tank” as he looks ahead to a period of downtime before building for 2023. 

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Tom Thewlis
News and Features Writer

After previously working in higher education, Tom joined Cycling Weekly in 2022 and hasn't looked back. He's been covering professional cycling ever since; reporting on the ground from some of the sport's biggest races and events, including the Tour de France, Paris-Roubaix and the World Championships. His earliest memory of a bike race is watching the Tour on holiday in the early 2000's in the south of France - he even made it on to the podium in Pau afterwards. His favourite place that cycling has taken him is Montréal in Canada.