Tour de France, Van der Poel’s frustration

The latest winner of the Tour of Flanders disappointed on stage 5 of the French race.

Credited as one of the possible winners of the 157-kilometer stage from Lille to Arenberg with plenty of cobblestones in between on the roads of Paris-Roubaix, Mathieu Van der Poel disappointed expectations. The Dutch rider looked unrecognizable, as he admitted in his post-race interview with the microphones of French broadcaster Cyclism’Actu. “I would have liked to be at the top, instead I am far from the best. For now I feel like a shadow of myself, and that’s extremely frustrating,” the latest winner of the Tour of Flanders began.

“I really don’t know what it’s due to. There was no indication of that on the eve of the race. I just know that at the moment I can never ride at the front of the peloton. Today I noticed right away that my legs were not turning. I hope the condition will come, otherwise the âTour will be really long. The Tour was good, not great, but I haven’t reached the level I would like for a long time,” he concluded bitterly.