Tour of Flanders 2025, Van Der Poel chasing records: "But for me, only winning will matter"

Rome, 5 April 2025 - When you are the reigning winner of a race and behind you there is also the success of the first Monument of the year, the Milan-Sanremo 2025, the favourite's stripes are rightfully his despite a field of sensational rivals: he knows this well Mathieu van der Poel, that tomorrow at Giro delle Fiandre 2025 could update the record books.  

Van Der Poel's possible records and statements

  In case of triumph at Oudenaarde, the Dutchman would in fact become the first runner ever to score a poker in a race in which up to now the maximum number of repeated successes has stopped at three for a group of six old glories of the more or less recent past. Furthermore, the son and grandson of art would secure the eighth Classical Monument in his career, a figure that no other active runner has reached: for the 19 hits di Eddy Merckx in the category the road is still quite long. Not only that: Van der Poel is back from 3 wins in a row on the cobblestones (Paris-Roubaix 2023 e 2024 e Giro delle Fiandre 2024). Without forgetting the Flemish success dated 2022 which, in the event of victory tomorrow, would create a record-breaking streak of at least one Monument on the cobblestones for four consecutive seasons. Then there is the pragmatism of the person directly concerned, who prefers to think only of the immediate future. "I just want to win tomorrow and if I could do that I know that as a consequence the records would also come. It would be something special that, honestly, I would not think about during the race". Van der Poel talks about the preparation and approach chosen for this key event. "This path has no secrets for me but I still preferred to stay in Belgium to train at a good pace in a four-hour session. We are ready for whatever happens: the secret is to stay calm in all situations and, as always, my teammates will do everything to put me in the best possible conditions in the final. Then it will be up to me to try to win, even if it clearly will not be easy". Especially when among the opponents there is a certain Tadej Pogačar. "Based on recent results, he and I seem to be at a slightly higher level than the others. He is more of a climber and can keep a great pace especially on the longer climbs, like the Old Kwaremont. He manages to accelerate before the start of the cobbles and impose a pace on that climb that is too hard for almost everyone. If he is the fittest, you have to accept it. I will keep an eye on several riders, because the dynamics of the race can always surprise you and I don't want to underestimate anyone."

Mozzato's statements

  Just think of last year's surprising second place Luca Mozzato, who will try to repeat himself tomorrow. "That was the best moment of my career. It's a classical very tough that doesn't give anyone any discounts, with many strong riders and some more 'opportunistic'. At a team level we will try to repeat what we did last year and for me being able to win a race that I have dreamed of since I was a child would be the best".

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