Tour of Flanders 2024: Mathieu van der Poel ‘clear favourite’ but 'never count us out,’ says Matteo Jorgenson

ByJames Hilsum

Published 30/03/2024 at 21:12 GMT

Matteo Jorgenson looked ahead to the Tour of Flanders on Sunday and assessed his chances of success in one of the most prominent races on the cycling calendar. Jorgenson believes anything is possible competing for Visma-Lease a Bike, but says Mathieu van der Poel is the one to beat. The men's race begins at 8.30am UK time on Sunday, with the action live on discovery+.

Matteo Jorgenson believes that Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) will be the man to beat at the Tour of Flanders, but says he and his Visma-Lease a Bike team can never be ruled out of contention.

There were mixed emotions for Visma-Lease a Bike after Jorgenson emerged victorious at Dwars door Vlaanderen, but saw team-mate Wout van Aert rushed to hospital with a broken collarbone, ribs and sternum after a horrible crash in that same race.

Van Aert’s injury means the focus for Visma will be on the US rider heading into Flanders on Sunday, but Jorgenson admits that the team have yet to reconfigure their plans following the Belgian’s absence.

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"If you saw the amount of man-hours that they put into making the original plan, I think you would understand that they still haven't finished the new plan with the riders that we have now," said Jorgenson at the pre-race press conference.

He continued: "I still don't even know the final plan but I think we basically will have to play off of Alpecin because I think they have full pressure on them to take the race into their hands and we'll just have to look for our moment.

"I think there's one clear favourite and that's Mathieu van der Poel. [But] I think I'm still in what I consider the best [team] in the world so you can never really count us out.”

The 24-year-old explained in more detail what sets Van der Poel apart from the rest, but appeared confident as he bids to add Sunday's Monument to his victories at Paris-Nice and at Dwars door Vlaanderen.

"I think as a rider Van der Poel is definitely a notch above just in theoretical terms, but it is a bike race and like we've seen in the past races, a lot of things can happen so I think we still have a good chance and I have a lot of confidence," he added.

• Pedersen admits absence of Stuyven and Kirsch for Tour of Flanders a 'pain in the ***'
• Van der Poel says 'more pressure' to win Flanders in Van Aert and Stuyven absence

"I have to remain realistic and I'll have to do my best on Sunday. I don't think anything magical is going to happen but I think my legs this year are something completely new and I'm still finding my limits I think.

"Actually, I haven't really found where I blew up yet so my feeling after Wednesday is a new level of confidence in these races."

Evenepoel wins Stage 8 of Paris-Nice, Jorgenson seals GC glory

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