Van der Poel Debuts at Omloop After Years of Watching from the Couch

Mathieu van der Poel watched Omloop Het Nieuwsblad for years from the couch. Missing the Belgian one-day always left him with a tinge of regret.

All that changes Saturday as he rolls to the start line for the first time in his history-busting career.

“When I watched Omloop on TV, I often felt it was a pity not to be there,” Van der Poel said Friday.

After closing out his cyclocross campaign in Hulst with a record eighth rainbow jersey, he took a ski holiday and needed reassurance that the engine was still there.

A few hard sessions on Spain’s Costa Blanca revved up the engine but the decision to race was only locked in on Monday.

“In that short period you obviously don’t lose all your condition, but to be honest, it was a bit disappointing at first,” he said of his first touch with the pedals.

“I wanted to see how I responded to my first training block. By now, I feel my level is good enough to start in Omloop.”

No elite male has ever won Omloop and gone on to win the Tour of Flanders in the same season.

So maybe MVDP never wanted to jinx himself.

One of MVDP’s few missing trophies

For a rider who’s dominated the northern classics, Omloop is a curious blank line on his glittering palmarès.

After chasing CX  history during much of the past decade, Omloop usually came too early after the mud and muck.

This year is different, and Van der Poel wants to open up what could be an equally record-breaking monument season.

At 207km, Omloop is the symbolic Belgian kickstarter to the cobbled campaign. Some of cycling’s biggest names have hoisted the trophy.

“If I were ever able to win it, it would definitely be a beautiful race to add to my palmarès,” Van der Poel said Friday. “And an extra race day heading into the coming weeks and months is never a bad thing.”

With riders like Wout van Aert, Jasper Stuyven, and Tiesj Benoot all sidelined for different reasons, Van der Poel might ride away with this one.

Riders like Tim Wellens (UAE Emirates-XRG) and Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) will try to make it a race.

Omloop is not a six-hour monument-level race of attrition, and that could mean extra traffic that he’d prefer.

The Muur and Bosberg can crack the race open, but it often comes down to a reduced bunch sprint.

“The Muur and Bosberg are important, but whether it will be decided there tomorrow, we’ll only know then,” he said.

Against speedsters like Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step), Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling), Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike), and Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarché), Van der Poel will want to create space to reduce the field.

Forecasted tailwinds in typical Belgian late-winter gunky weather in the closing kilometers could favor a breakaway.

And he won’t carry the full weight of the race. With Jasper Philipsen and Kaden Groves, Alpecin-Premier Tech has options if it comes down to a sprint.

“It’s a tough race, but often a fairly closed one as well, where it’s difficult to make big differences,” he saiid. “Not all the pressure is on my shoulders.”

Saturday provides the first glimpse of Van der Poel’s road form ahead of clashes with Tadej Pogačar later this spring.

He usually doesn’t disappoint on Belgian pavement.