If you want to be among the protagonists of Milano-Sanremo, you must definitely race the Tirreno-Adriatico: this is the philosophy of Mathieu van der Poel, who has announced his participation in the race of the Two Seas from March 10 to 16.

The Dutchman has announced the day of his seasonal debut and Italy will once again be the backdrop for his first race of the year. "I will start from Tirreno-Adriatico because it is the best preparation for Milano-Sanremo (March 22). And after my season will continue as in previous years. I will not go to the Worlds, I will probably do the Tour again also because there are some opportunities for me in the first week".

The main objectives of the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider are therefore clear and regarding the Tour of Flanders, he is not obsessed with the idea of writing a new record for number of victories. "Flemish classics and MTB World Championships are my main goal. Do I want to become the first to win the Ronde four times? It's like at the Cyclocross World Championships: I'm more focused on the race than on the record. The matter of Through Flanders will also be decided later, but I won't do Gent-Wevelgem. I would prefer to win the Tour of Flanders for the fourth time rather than Gent-Wevelgem for the first time, so I would say I won't do it this year either".

Van der Poel has been on vacation in the mountains with his girlfriend Roxane in recent days, leaving his bike aside. "After all the cyclocross races I've done, I needed some decompression. But there's nothing to worry about".

The Dutchman's winter season has been intense, he participated in 8 races winning all of them, including the World Title conquered in France. For him, the road season will start on March 10 with Tirreno-Adriatico and will be followed by: Milano-Sanremo (March 22), E3 Saxo Classic (March 28), Tour of Flanders (April 6), Paris-Roubaix (April 13) and Tour de France on July 5.