Mathieu van der Poel is living his best cycling life.
He is a favourite for Milan-San Remo but is not under intense pressure to win like Tadej Pogačar. He has already won six Monument Classics and will surely win even more this spring and in the years to come.
Life is good and the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider seems to have worked out how to balance the intensity of pro racing with life's little pleasures. Cycling and winning the biggest Classics have never been forced on him or burdened him, they are not a personal obsession, they are naturally part of his life.
Van der Poel is probably the only rider who can compete on equal terms with Pogačar on Saturday and the tension is rising in the hours before the race. Yet Van der Poel is relaxed as ever as he speaks to Cyclingnews, L'Equipe and La Gazzetta dello Sport in an exclusive interview and enjoys a final coffee ride near Antwerp before travelling to Italy.
"My life is not perfect, for sure I have bad days as well. But I think I'm at an age now that I've accomplished almost every goal I've set for myself and even more," Van der Poel explains.
"That brings me a lot of peace. Everything that comes now, it's a bonus. That makes it very relaxing to race."
"I still want to try and win the biggest races out there, another Monument, so I'm still very motivated. I'm well aware that I need to be at 110% to beat Pogačar. That's always good motivation."
Of course, Van der Poel still gets excited about Milan-San Remo. He won it with a text book solo attack on the Poggio in 2023. He wants to win it again, especially after sacrificing his chances for Alpecin-Deceuninck teammate and sprinter Jasper Philipsen last year.
Van der Poel grew up watching Milan-San Remo with his father and former pro Adri and his mother Corinne, the daughter of legendary French rider Raymond Poulidor.
Mathieu has the bad-ass, hard as nails character of his father, the gentleness of his grandfather and mother and the cycling DNA of all three. He doesn't race for money or fame, it is just what he does.
"Milan-San Remo is one of the races I loved to watch as a kid, because you never know what's going to happen," Van der Poel says, capturing the magic of the Italian race, admitting he even prefers the Italian race over a Paris-Roubaix victory in the iconic velodrome.
"Winning Paris-Roubaix is super special but I think winning on the Via Roma is more emotional. At Milan-San Remo you don't know it until you get to the last stretch, the final metres, so that makes it a bit more special."
A big-name clash for Classics connoisseurs
Van der Poel and Pogačar will clash for the first time this season at Milan-San Remo.
They will then face off at the E3 Saxo Bank Classic next Friday, the Tour of Flanders on Sunday April 6 and perhaps even at Paris-Roubaix on Sunday April 13. It will be a vintage spring Classics campaign and heady few weeks for cycling connoisseurs.
Pogačar dominated the UAE Tour and then at Strade Bianche despite his crash. The UAE Team Emirates rider has recovered away from the March races and appears as strong as ever. He is the current world champion, taking over from Van der Poel who beat him in Glasgow in 2023.
Van der Poel won a cyclocross world title in early February and then won Le Samyn on his road race debut. He went close to winning a stage at Tirreno-Adriatico, emerging with the 'extra percentage' of form needed for his spring Classics and race speed in his legs.
True to character, Van der Poel is not interested in fueling a rivalry with Pogačar, they have even trained together. There is no trash talking and no sense of fear, only respect and a desire to win the big races. Van der Poel knows that Pogcar can hurt him on the longer climbs in some Classics and so must rely on his race craft, bike handling skills and perhaps his faster finish.
"I have a good relationship with him and to be honest, I don't think too much about a rivalry. I just try for myself to be in the best possible shape at the races," Van der Poel says.
"If he's stronger, like he was at the Tour of Flanders two years ago, then it's something you have to deal with. It's not something I can change because I know I did everything I could to be in the best possible shape at that race. If a rider is stronger, that's how it is."
Van der Poel concedes that he will have to try to go with Pogačar if the Slovenian attacks on the Cipressa and especially on the Poggio. Otherwise Milan-San Remo will immediately escape his grasp.
He also has to think about long-time rival Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), who he beat to win the Junior world road race title in Florence in 2013. On-form Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) is also a threat due to his power attacks and finishing speed, as are so many other team leaders and outsiders.
"Ganna is Ganna. In the last two or three years he was already one of the strongest riders on the Poggio, he looks in super good shape. So he will be there too, it's not just about me and Pogačar," Van der Poel warns.
Chasing after Pogačar on the Cipressa
Van der Poel saw how Pogačar and his team tried to hurt their rivals on the Cipressa climb in 2024 but failed in their intentions. Pogačar then made two attacks on the Poggio but Van der Poel and others chased him down each time.
The risk of rain on Saturday has receded and there is likely to be a slight tailwind on the Cipressa, meaning Pogačar and UAE Team Emirates could be tempted to try to break the record of 9:19 for the Cipressa from 1996 and even go under nine minutes to spark a huge selection.
Van der Poel doubts that plan would work.
"Nothing is impossible. If it's headwind on the Cipressa, I don't think it's possible, but when it's full tail wind maybe it is. But for sure you'd need to sacrifice the whole team," he says with warning.
"It also depends on how teams organise behind any attack. If there's a team that doesn't panic, keeps together and pulls as hard as possible from the Cipressa to the Poggio, it's going to be really difficult to stay away."
Van der Poel may have to go with Pogačar if he attacks on the Cipressa but he is more pragmatic, more of an all out, full gas, Poggio attack rider.
"That's also why there's so many riders that can win Milan-San Remo, sometimes you can hide all day and still win," he suggests.
"Sometimes it's maybe even better if you don't have the legs to do anything on the Poggio, but you just try and follow a few riders. You don't have to pass the Poggio first to win the race, that's obvious."
If Van der Poel wins Milan-San Remo for a second time, don't expect to see him partying late into the night in Monte Carlo. If he manages to catch a late flight home to Belgium, he is likely to be on the golf course on Sunday morning, enjoying the peace and quiet of the greens, perhaps smiling to himself after he again proved that Pogačar is beatable and that he is one of the best Classics riders in the sport.
"Golf is really relaxing and you're in nature," Van der Poel explains.
"It's the opposite of what happens in a race, it's an alternative to the pressure and tension of racing. It's just what I need after a big race, it's my little personal reward, whether I win or lose."
