World champion Mathieu van der Poel will arrive at the start of the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday with barely five races in his legs. Of course, he has also won three times with the E3 Saxo Classic, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
Tom Boonen’s program looked completely different in its peak period. “In Roubaix I was usually already on my 35th day of competition. Those men can and are allowed to make choices, that is allowed by the team,” says Boonen at HLN.
“No one questions it or makes a fuss about it. In my case, the room would have been too small,” Boonen continues. He also calls it a big risk to race so little, like Wout van Aert.
Yet Boonen also understands the choice. Because in the end it is only the races where Van der Poel starts that count. And then it doesn’t matter whether you won early in the year.
