'I'm happy with the shape' - Mathieu van der Poel building Tour de France form at Dauphiné

Another day, another third place for Mathieu van der Poel at the Critérium du Dauphiné. If the Dutchman had some regrets about opening his sprint from too far out on Sunday, he had no quibbles about his effort on stage 2 to Issoire, where Jonathan Milan’s imposing sprint brooked no argument. 

Milan was full value for his victory after a smooth Lidl-Trek lead-out, while Van der Poel had to settle for third behind the Italian and Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious). That left him just short of the bonus seconds he needed to move into yellow, and he thus remains third overall, now two seconds down on the new leader Milan.

“The last 5k was super fast and it was a bit of a fight for the wheel of Milan,” Van der Poel told reporters after taking over the green jersey of points leader. “Everybody knows he’s the fastest and it’s clear he was. I was happy to join in the sprint, and I was happy with third again.”

Van der Poel’s Alpecin-Deceuninck squad had been to the fore at the head of the peloton on the day’s toughest climb, the Côte du Château de Buron, and the pace there proved too much for Milan. He was swiftly paced back to the peloton by his Lidl-Trek squad over the other side, however, and Van der Poel acknowledged that the chances of burning off Milan before the sprint were always going to be slim.

“It was still quite far, and he had the whole team waiting for him, so we knew it was going to be really difficult,” Van der Poel said. “I think a sprint was inevitable here.”

There was something inevitable, too, about the result, particularly once Lidl-Trek’s lead-out moved through its phases so seamlessly. Van der Poel is at this Dauphiné without the key figures from Alpecin-Deceuninck’s sprint train, but he dismissed the idea that it had cost him here.

“No, I don’t think so: the team did a good job,” he said. “In the end it was up to myself for positioning, but in a sprint like this, it’s almost impossible for me to beat him. He’s one of the fastest guys in the bunch, so I think I can be happy today.”

Van der Poel will have another shot at stage victory on Tuesday, but his primary business at the Dauphiné is accumulating racing miles ahead of the Tour de France. On the evidence of the opening two days here, Van der Poel’s preparation doesn’t seem to have been unduly hindered by the fractured wrist he sustained in the Mountain Bike World Cup in Nove Mesto last month.

“I’m happy with the shape,” he said. “After the crash, there was a bit of a doubt about how the preparation would be, but I was able to do a lot of hours and this is exactly what I need now, to try to suffer a bit in the final. And there will be enough suffering left for me later in the week.”