Van der Poel set for short Tour de France build-up as Philipsen takes busier route

Van der Poel, who failed to win a spring Monument for the first time since 2021, will keep his Tour de France build up deliberately short. The Dutchman is scheduled to race only once before the Tour, lining up at the Tour de Suisse from June 17-21.

It will be his first and only race block before heading to the Grand Départ in Barcelona on July 4, where he is expected to play a dual role once again. As well as forming a key part of Philipsen’s sprint lead out, Van der Poel should also have opportunities to chase stage victories of his own.

“After a strong spring campaign, during which he once again impressed in the cobbled Classics, Mathieu van der Poel is now turning his attention fully towards the summer,” the team said in its announcement. “The former world champion will race the Tour de Suisse later this month, his only race block ahead of the Tour de France.”

The programme confirms that Van der Poel’s road focus is firmly on the Tour, even though mountain biking remains part of his wider season plan. The mountain bike World Championships are still expected to be one of his major targets later in the year, but no mountain bike races were included in the schedule released by Alpecin-Premier Tech.

That also means there is, for now, no confirmation of a start at the upcoming mountain bike World Cup round in Leogang from June 12 to 14. Van der Poel had previously been entered for the World Cup in Nové Mesto, but ultimately decided not to start.

The schedule also rules out another appearance at the Dutch national road championships. Van der Poel last rode the national championships in 2023.

Last year, Van der Poel was one of the early protagonists of the Tour. He won stage two in Boulogne sur Mer, wore the yellow jersey for four days and remained a constant attacking presence in the race. 

His Tour, however, came to a premature end before stage 16, after medical checks confirmed he was suffering from pneumonia.

Philipsen, meanwhile, faces a busier run into July. The Belgian sprinter will return to racing at Copenhagen Sprint on June 14, before joining Van der Poel at the Tour de Suisse three days later.

He will then contest the Belgian National Road Championships in Brasschaat on June 28 before travelling to Spain for the start of the Tour de France.

Last year, Philipsen won the opening stage of the Tour and immediately pulled on the yellow jersey. Things went wrong on stage 3, however, when the Belgian was involved in a high speed crash at the intermediate sprint and abandoned the race.