Mathieu van der Poel Favorite to Win Amstel Gold Race According to Former Champion Erik Dekker

Interview In 2019, it had taken eighteen years for the Amstel Gold Race to have a winner from the Netherlands again. That was then Mathieu van der Poel after a crazy final, who became Erik Dekker’s successor. He defeated in 2001 Lance Armstrong after a sprint with two. Next Sunday is MVDP again the top favorite, the former classic specialist (53) also notes. “His Alpecin-Deceuninck team is marching like crazy,” says Dekker CyclingFlits.

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The fact that Van der Poel is again the favorite for the Amstel on Sunday is quite special. The combination between the cobblestones and hill classics is often a difficult one. “That is a challenge. Look, if he had ridden all spring and had done all the semi-classics, I would have said: ‘yes, that is difficult’. Anyway, he passed away last week Tour of Flanders It is not without reason that we flew back to Spain. There he gained a lot of altitude meters in one day. That wasn’t for Roubaix or because he just needed a long workout. No, he does that – I think – with a view to the Amstel Gold Race on Sunday and Liège-Bastogne-Liège next week.”

In the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, Alpecin-Deceuninck made a big impression in block. The Belgian team will also be fully employed on Sunday MVDP. “His team must be able to control the course. Although I must also say: if Mathieu threatens to lose his teammates, he will start to falter himself. He drives around with amazing legs and self-confidence, which literally scares the competition. The worst that can happen to Mathieu on Sunday is that he does not win the Amstel Gold Race. He doesn’t worry about that, because he has the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix are already in his back pocket. Gosh, I wish I had experienced days like that.”

photo: Cor Vos

Opportunities for competition
However, the competition must also take advantage of the opportunities available on Sunday, Dekker believes. “A lot of riders and teams will be looking at Mathieu. That is a factor, because the final of the Amstel Gold Race is not the most difficult. If Alpecin-Deceuninck is the only one to carry the race, they will have a difficult time. The final is difficult to control. I just fear that there are teams that will also check. Not surprising in itself, because in Limburg it is nice to sit at the front. Your leader is then out of the crowd and he is always in the right place when the wind blows or someone falls. I suspect that the team of Michael Matthews will also help quickly, for example.”

“What helps is that we are in Ghent-Wevelgem have seen that Mathieu can also be beaten,” Dekker continues. “He may not always have done everything well there. But if he has a goal in mind, he doesn’t make mistakes very often. I would therefore speculate on a scenario in which Alpecin-Deceuninck has to fix everything. And then they automatically say: ‘do it yourself’, because it is impossible to do everything yourself in De Amstel. The point is, it won’t bother them. Then they may be without a win in De Amstel on Sunday evening, but they have already won three very big, fat fish this spring. That is why there is no pressure on Mathieu and his team.”

Moreover, it creates work ethic MVDP impression on the former Rabobank driver. “He’s better than last year, I think. Although he competes less often, he still trains hard. Wednesday morning I looked up at 8:10 am Instagram, then he sat on the bike with bare legs in seven degrees Celsius. When I looked again at 3 p.m., he was driving on the Zeeland Bridge. He didn’t leave at eight o’clock because he had an appointment at twelve o’clock. No, he was just training really hard. That was three days after Paris-Roubaix. I wouldn’t make that up if you were also riding De Amstel the following Sunday. But he simply recovers faster than the rest.”

Dekker himself won the Gold Race in 2001, ahead of Armstrong – photo: Cor Vos

Approaching perfection
The main question floating around in the peloton: who on earth should Van der Poel beat on Sunday? “That’s the first thing I think about Bling Matthews,” says Dekker. “Because he might be able to beat Mathieu in a sprint. Maybe, I say. Because that is also the case with Mathieu and all those other top riders: they can do everything in a race, but also sprint. They have so many weapons at home, which makes it quite complicated to defeat them. But if they run Mathieu a bit empty, Matthews can put him on it, I think.”

The expectations around MVDP is high, however. “Because Mathieu almost approaches perfection. The way he sits on the bike, the bike itself, that cool white suit, those white shoes, it all just looks very nice. He is a beautiful athlete who also races beautifully. And yet there are few races for Van der Poel in which it is an ABC. That you think: ‘Yes, that’s what I expected it to be’. That makes it beautiful. I find the beauty with which he shows his superior power very fascinating to watch. But the day he doesn’t win a classic is getting closer. That could be Sunday, or next week. Just maybe not until next spring.”