Mathieu van der Poel: The Tour de France will be my first Grand Tour, so a stage victory would be a success

The superstar rider shares his plans for the second apart of the season

Mathieu van der Poel in the 2021 Tour of Flanders
(Image credit: Nico Vereecken - Pool/Getty Images)

Mathieu van der Poel has shared his plans for the rest of the season, as he hopes to win a stage of the Tour de France before heading to the Tokyo Olympics.

The Dutch superstar rider has closed out  the first half of 2021, having won four races on the road and performing well in mountain bike World Cups despite his limited preparation.

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Alex Ballinger

Alex Ballinger is editor of BikeBiz magazine, the leading publication for the UK cycle industry, and is the former digital news editor for CyclingWeekly.com. After gaining experience in local newsrooms, national newspapers and in digital journalism, Alex found his calling in cycling, first as a reporter, then as news editor responsible for Cycling Weekly's online news output, and now as the editor of BikeBiz. Since pro cycling first captured his heart during the 2010 Tour de France (specifically the Contador-Schleck battle) Alex covered three Tours de France, multiple editions of the Tour of Britain, and the World Championships, while both writing and video presenting for Cycling Weekly. He also specialises in fitness writing, often throwing himself into the deep end to help readers improve their own power numbers.  Away from the desk, Alex can be found racing time trials, riding BMX and mountain bikes, or exploring off-road on his gravel bike. He’s also an avid gamer, and can usually be found buried in an eclectic selection of books.