On Sunday we head to the World Championships in Hulst, the most important competition of the year. However, our Belgians seem to be able to accept in advance that Mathieu van der Poel will win, which would mean his eighth world title.
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What plan?
No one can really ignore that, even playing hide and seek with his own team is not an option. “In normal circumstances he stands out,” team manager of Alpecin-Premier Tech, Philip Roodhooft, also has to admit.
Although Sporza still tries to keep the pressure off. “It’s a huge cliché, but it still has to happen on Sunday. Although it will have to involve bad luck,” Roodhooft does not want to defy the gods.
He also looks at the competition, although he still has to put his own compatriots down to earth. “The Belgians will certainly be at the start with a plan,” says Roodhooft. But what kind of plan? “Well, I have no idea. That answer obviously says a lot.”
Dreams (are deception)
The Belgians themselves also realize that there will probably be little that can be done against Van der Poel. National coach Angelo De Clercq also knows: “You have to hope for a bad day for Mathieu, but you wouldn’t wish that on anyone. We’ll see what it brings. You can only have admiration for such a super athlete,” he mainly looks towards the other two podium places.
Although De Clercq still keeps the dream of a stunt alive: “Of course we try to aim for the highest possible achievement and Thibau Nys has already proven that he can follow for a long time. We are competitive and we do not give up courage to become world champion.”
