Mathieu van der Pol made the most of just nine days of racing this year, winning his second Tour de Flanders and finishing on the podium in his debut race in Milan-San Remo. Next month, van der Pol will aim to complete his first Grand Tour at the Giro d'Italia. This is an important goal for his development as a road racer, he told Wielerflits.nl.

The 27-year-old Van der Pol made his Grand Tour debut in the 2021 Tour de France, winning the second stage and wearing the yellow leader's jersey for six stages before losing it in Le Grand-Bornand on stage 8. He then left racing to prepare for the Olympics and competed in the men's cross-country but did not finish.

Finishing the Grand Tour and enduring the stress (both physical and mental) of three weeks of intense racing can transform an athlete. With 15 WorldTour wins, major classics such as the Tour de Flanders, Amstel Gold Race, Strade Bianche, and Dwars door Hlaanderen, and stage wins in the Tour de France, Tour de Suisse, and Tirreno Adriatico, Van der Pol has already has a number of good results on the road, but he is "looking to the future" with his Grand Tour plans, and the Giro d'Italia is an important piece of that plan.

"The Giro is a fascinating race for me," Van der Pol said in an interview with Wieler Fritz after his ninth place finish in Paris-Roubaix. "I think it's definitely good for my future to ride a Grand Tour to evolve as a rider, especially if you look at how I've ridden this spring. Especially if you look at my run this spring. It wasn't very wide."

Van der Pol had a relatively slow start to the season after a back injury recurred during the second cyclocross race in December. The injury took him off the bike for a month and delayed his season debut until he returned in Milan-San Remo after an extended training camp in Spain.

Of racing in the Giro d'Italia, he said, "Maybe I can base a little more, maybe I can be a little stronger. The engine will be a little bigger; I'm 27 years old and I haven't raced a Grand Tour yet. I'm interested because everyone says you get better with Grand Tours experience."

Last month, Van der Pol said the Giro was a possibility, but not 100 percent certain. Now he stands on the start line in Budapest and may be looking for his first Maria Rosa in the punchy opening stage.

"In the first week, I have a chance to get the pink jersey. That's the main reason," he told AD.nl last month.

"I plan to finish both the Giro and the Tour this year.