Breaking News: No Spain, but Belgium for Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogacar travels to Flanders well ahead of schedule

Despite being the overwhelming favourites for the Tour of Flanders and the topic of much debate in the team hotels, Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates-XRG) are preparing for the Flemish highlight of the year in a surprisingly quiet manner. Van der Poel stayed in Belgium, where Pogacar would shortly come.

Van van Poel won the E3 Saxo Classic well on Friday, but despite being in peak form, he refused to show it in the Ghent-Wevelgem race, which Mads Pedersen ultimately won. “We discussed it. Last year wasn’t bad, but I want to be good in Flanders. By skipping Gent-Wevelgem, we think we can get the best result there,” the Dutch rider explained after the E3.

“Especially after the weather conditions in Tirreno-Adriatico, Milan-Sanremo, and now here too. Staying healthy is the challenge now, but that will be the case for everyone coming from Tirreno-Adriatico, Paris-Nice, and Milan-Sanremo,” said Van der Poel with a slight hint of a cold in his voice. The Dutch rider chose not to travel to Spain because the expected weather conditions in Belgium this week are also favorable. On Monday, he completed a training session with teammate Quinten Hermans, as he showed on Instagram.

We didn’t see the second top favourite, Pogacar, in action last weekend. The UAE Emirates-XRG rider had planned to compete in the E3 Saxo Classic and Gent-Wevelgem, but opted to join Paris-Roubaix instead. Normally, Pogacar, who will arrive in Belgium on Tuesday, conducts his recon on Wednesday and his press interview on Thursday, following which he can focus solely on Sunday’s race for two days.

Pogacar has been training from his home base in Monaco, preparing for the next two Monuments.