Mathieu van der Poel also delivers on order in Giro d’Italia

Beforehand, he had tried to temper expectations, but no one is falling for that anymore. Was that climb at the end of the first stage not selective enough? Nevertheless, Mathieu van der Poel won the final sprint, with perfect timing. Had he only trained once on his time trial bike? On Saturday he was ‘just’ second in a time trial over more than nine kilometers and kept the pink leader’s jersey. To even interfere with the final sprint won by Briton Mark Cavendish in stage three on Sunday. “It’s not as easy as it seems,” he said last week. But Van der Poel (27) also delivers on order at his debut in the Giro.

From the stage win and yellow jersey at his debut in the Tour de France last year to his win in the Tour of Flanders this spring, after a winter full of injuries. And now Van der Poel takes the pink leader’s jersey to Italy after the first three Giro stages in Hungary, amid enormous public interest that was reminiscent of the masses at the start in the Netherlands in 2010. Monday is the travel and rest day, Tuesday the peloton in Sicily awaits the first serious mountain stage on the Etna volcano, where the finish is at 1,892 meters in Rifugio Sapienza. “I think I will lose the jersey there”, Van der Poel already looked ahead this weekend in Budapest. Would it?

Pink time trial bike

“I would have signed for this in advance,” said Van der Poel after losing only three seconds to British stage winner Simon Yates in the time trial in Budapest on Saturday, and winning time over number three Tom Dumoulin and all other time trial specialists. On a pink time trial bike built especially for him, he cut corners like no other between hedges of spectators and delivered full power on the straights. Predator on the hunt. To sink to the ground after the finish of fatigue, just like after his stage win on Friday. “But I was really less broken now. I have noticed that time trialing is something I rarely do.”

Last year, in his first Tour de France, Van der Poel took the yellow leader’s jersey on the second day with a magnificent stage win on the Mûr-de-Bretagne, which he dedicated to his grandfather Raymond Poulidor, who died in November 2019. He delivered memorable battles with Wout van Aert in that first Tour week and then also rose above himself in a time trial, so that he eventually only had to give up the yellow to the later Tour winner Tadej Pogacar after six days. Just like then in France, he now surprised himself in the time trial in the Giro. “I knew I could keep the pink jersey here, but I didn’t expect to get this close to the stage win.”

The rosette carrier is also popular in Italy. “Van der Poel always provides a spectacle,” said Giro boss Paolo Bellino before the start. In 2013, the Dutchman became world junior champion in Florence. Seven years later there is a spectacular stage victory in Tirreno-Adriatico. The following season he shines with a win in Strade Bianche and a little later again in the Tirreno, in which he narrowly beats overall winner Pogacar after a 51 kilometer solo. Racing in Italy is special for Van der Poel. The Giro? “A cool race that I’m really looking forward to,” he said beforehand.

In addition to stage win and the pink jersey, Van der Poel has set himself the goal in Italy to complete a three-week round for the first time in his career. Last year he left the Tour after ten days to prepare for the Olympic Games, where he crashed in the mountain bike part and had to give up. Now, after the Giro, the Tour will also be on his program in July. “I hope to finish both the Giro and the Tour this year. Because then I can become a better rider.”

After the third stage, in which he led the sprint for his Italian teammate Jakub Mareczko who finished fifth, Van der Poel will defend a lead of 11 seconds on Simon Yates and 16 counts on Dumoulin at Etna on Tuesday. Normally both are better climbers and he is la maglia rosa lost, thinks Van der Poel. Unless they drive it very slowly. I’m just gonna try. And even after that, there are still many goals this Giro. I’m going to go for a stage win a few more times.”