After struggling a stinging defeat on the Tour of Flanders by the hands of Tadej Pogačar, Mathieu van der Poel has determined so as to add the mid-week Scheldeprijs (Wednesday, April 5) to his programme.
Van der Poel, who has focussed his spring across the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix since beginning his foray into WorldTour highway racing in 2019, will make his debut within the race on Wednesday.
“A race in my very own area is all the time good,” Van der Poel mentioned in his crew’s press launch.
“Some further race rhythm within the run-up to Paris-Roubaix is sweet, and in addition to, I am trying ahead to attempting to assist – as I did twice in Tirreno – our chief Jasper Philipsen within the dash.”
Philipsen gained the Scheldeprijs in 2021 in a lowered bunch dash, beating Sam Bennett and Mark Cavendish from a bunch that fashioned in brutal crosswinds simply 55km into the stage.
The Scheldeprijs is taken into account a sprinter’s basic, though it’s much less easy than it as soon as was. It begins in Terneuzen within the Netherlands and heads north via the Western Scheldt Tunnel, then east in direction of Hoogerheide – the positioning of Van der Poel’s UCI Cyclocross World Championship title in February.
The race lacks the cobbled climbs that outline many of the classics in Flanders, however it’s typically topic to crosswinds that shatter the peloton.
Final 12 months, Alexander Kristoff attacked on the final of three cobbled sections in Schoten and soloed away to victory.
