Mathieu Van der Poel's lackluster performance at Strade Bianche raised eyebrows among some, but the Alpecin de Seunic team leader, after an uncharacteristic 15th-place finish in Siena, walked away from the first road race of the 2023 season He calmly walked away.

The 28-year-old capped off a long cyclocross campaign by winning the World Championships in early February ahead of Wout Van Aert, and since winning the Rainbow Band on February 5, van der Pol has spent a few days in Dubai and in Spain for the spring classics. training. He and Alpecin Deceuninck were confident of his form ahead of Strade Bianche, but he struggled, finishing 1:46 behind winner and Classic rival Tom Pidcock.

At the finish in Piazza del Campo, van der Pol weaved his way through the crowd, but dismissed concerns about his own performance.

"The feeling wasn't bad," van der Pol said. [Personally, I didn't expect the best version of myself yet. Personally, I wasn't expecting the best version of myself yet. I was good enough to race, but not good enough to win a race as tough as the first race. I need course toughness and I think that is normal."

"I got through the most difficult gravel sections well, but I didn't have enough legs to respond to the decisive attack.

Van der Pol is confident that he will return to form in the coming weeks. When asked if he was concerned about his relatively slow return to form, he said that his performance at Strade Bianche did not disappoint.

"Next week we will get back on track at Tirreno Adriatico. That's exactly what we had in mind when we planned the race calendar.

"We have known for a while that the time between the World Cyclocross Championships and Strade Bianche is quite short. I worked hard to have a good run here, but like I said, the best version of myself is yet to come."