Mathieu van der Poel: 'I haven't reached the level I want for a while'

The Dutchman failed to live up to his pre-stage favourite tag on the cobbles

Mathieu van der Poel
(Image credit: Getty)

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has vowed to continue racing the Tour de France, despite expressing disappointment about his state of fitness.

The Dutch superstar was rated as one of the pre-race favourites to win stage five that took in 11 Paris-Roubaix cobbled sectors. 

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Chris Marshall-Bell

A freelance sports journalist and podcaster, you'll mostly find Chris's byline attached to news scoops, profile interviews and feature writing across a variety of different publications. He has been writing regularly for Cycling Weekly since 2013.


Previously a ski, hiking and cycling guide in a number of places, but mostly in the Canadian Rockies and Spanish Pyrenees, he almost certainly holds the record for the most number of interviews conducted from snowy mountains.


He lives in Valencia, Spain.