While he singled out Flanders as the main goal, Van der Poel will have Tadej Pogačar back to contend with in April. The world champion was the last man to beat him there in 2023 and long-term rival Wout van Aert will also be back after a crash ruled him out of Flanders and Roubaix last year.
“I fell in love with [the Ronde] when I first participated. But this year a certain Tadej Pogacar is participating. I will have to be in top form to be able to follow him,” Van der Poel told Sporza after ‘Cross Worlds.
“A few teams have become very strong in depth. When Tadej goes, a lot of teams know that it is very difficult to follow him.
“That will make it fun for the spectators because that means that the race will be opened up from very far away.”
Last year, Van der Poel was in a different league to everyone at Flanders when he attacked up the Koppenberg, before riding 44km solo to the line. But as UAE Team Emirates’ Nils Politt pointed out to Cyclingnews and Rouleur at the finish in 2024, “We have one guy in our team with Tadej [Pogačar], he’s the same, some guys are like this.”
The exciting conflict that took place in 2022 and 2023 should be replayed, with Van Aert expecting to be back at his best so he can participate after missing the former due to COVID-19 and being dropped in the latter.
Van Aert will train in Mallorca before beginning his road season with the Clásica Jaén on February 17 and the Volta ao Algarve the following week, preparing for Opening Weekend at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne.
The Belgian will train at altitude for the Monuments, skipping the Italian events Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo, which he has previously won. He will return to the E3 Saxo Classic on March 28.
His final appearance before Holy Week will be at Dwars door Vlaanderen, the race that ended his Classics season last year with a horrific crash. Van Aert aims to win the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix in April with a strong Visma-Lease a Bike team, following a string of terrible luck in previous seasons.
