{"id":1793508,"date":"2026-02-25T02:52:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T23:52:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1793508"},"modified":"2026-02-25T02:52:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T23:52:19","slug":"mathieu-van-der-poel-returns-to-make-a-mess-of-pogacars-monument-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1793508","title":{"rendered":"Mathieu van der Poel Returns to Make a Mess of Poga\u010dar\u2019s Monument Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Z8A_3544.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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Jim Cotton<\/span><\/div>\n

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Updated February 25, 2026 03:03AM<\/div>\n
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Mathieu van der Poel is back, and he\u2019s got (more) monuments in his mind.<\/p>\n

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Team Alpecin-Premier Tech confirmed Van der Poel will return to the road Saturday at Omloop Nieuwsblad before he builds toward a huge blowout with Tadej Poga\u010dar in a triple-header of spring monuments.<\/p>\n

MVDP and Pogi will face-off at Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, and Paris-Roubaix in the second series of their Box Office bouts of 2025.<\/p>\n

Van der Poel was the one rider who could defang Poga\u010dar through the spring last year.<\/p>\n

He withstood Pogi\u2019s onslaught on the Cipressa and Poggio of San Remo, and matched him blow-for-blow across the pav\u00e9 of Roubaix.<\/p>\n

With two wins at \u201cLa Primavera\u201d and a hat-trick at \u201cThe Hell of the North,\u201d the Dutchman \u2013 and the unique challenges of the two courses \u2013 stands square in Poga\u010dar\u2019s path as the Slovenian looks to sweep all five monuments.<\/p>\n

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MvdP spring campaign locked in. \ud83d\udd12<\/p>\n

As announced after the Cyclo-cross World Championships, @mathieuvdpoel waited to complete his first training block before making a final decision on his road return. After a few solid weeks on the bike, he feels race-ready and will line up at\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/RIuWujv8EZ<\/p>\n

\u2014 Alpecin – Premier Tech (@AlpecinPT) February 25, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Van der Poel\u2019s speedy teammate Jasper Philipsen will also be at San Remo and Roubaix to make it double trouble for Poga\u010dar.<\/p>\n

After winning a historic eighth cyclocross world title in February and then risking his knees on a ski holiday, MVDP has recently been training like a lunatic across the smooth tarmac of the Costa Blanca.<\/p>\n

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Now it\u2019s time for him to go full beast mode once more, starting Saturday in the Omloop.<\/p>\n

Van der Poel spring 2026:<\/h3>\n

Omloop Nieuwsblad
\nTirreno-Adriatico
\nMilan San Remo
\nE3 Saxo Classic
\nIn Flanders Fields-Middelkerke to Wevelgem (Gent-Wevelgem)
\nTour of Flanders
\nParis-Roubaix<\/p>\n

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Jim Cotton<\/span><\/div>\n

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Updated February 25, 2026 03:03AM<\/div>\n
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[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/van-der-poel-monuments-pogacar\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Z8A_3544.jpg”] Jim Cotton Updated February 25, 2026 03:03AM Mathieu van der Poel is back, and he\u2019s got (more) monuments in his mind. Team Alpecin-Premier Tech confirmed Van der Poel will return to the road Saturday at Omloop Nieuwsblad before he builds toward a huge blowout with Tadej Poga\u010dar in a triple-header of spring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-1793508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1793508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1793508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1793508\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1793508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1793508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1793508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}