Van der Poel: "The desire for pink is less than Tour yellow"

the dutch Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) will not start as a favorite on 105th edition of Giro which starts this Friday in Budapest, but the quadruple world champion’s monopoly in cyclo-cross and double winner of the Tour of Flanders is the focus of interest for his debut in the pink race, where he will have to clear some unknowns.

“Wearing a pink jersey will not be easy. I wish I could have achieved, but my desire for pink is less than the one I had for the yellow Tour jersey last year. In France there was stronger symbolism. There I saw the jersey where unexpectedly. The 1st stage was chosen for me, but I wore it later, in Mûr-De-Bretagne ”, declared the head of Alpecin-Fenix.

Mathieu van der Poel does not regard this Giro as a simple preparation for the Tour de France, but as an experience that will reveal some unknowns about his performance in a three -week trial.

“I don’t go to the Giro to prepare for the Tour de France. I look forward to this first personal experience in the Giro d’Italia. I have always been a fan of this country and this race, I want to run and see how my body reacts to the effort in three weeks. At this point I have no answers because I haven’t completed the grand lap yet. So I have a lot of question marks, even though the answer is behind me. “

The mountains will be Van der Poel’s big opponent, who will come in abundance in the final week of the race.

“I haven’t climbed any major climbs in a three-week career, and that’s another unknown for me.. I want to end my two grand tours this year, the Giro and the Tour de France. I focused my preparation at the beginning of the year in Spain mainly on the classics. It may be a short preparation, but I hope to get to the end, “Van der Poel concluded.