For a few beautiful weeks, the rest of the peloton had hope. They looked at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad start list, saw a Wout van Aert held together by medical tape and optimism, and thought, “Maybe, just maybe, I have a chance.”
That hope died on Wednesday morning, when Mathieu van der Poel woke up and chose violence.
Mathieu van der Poel has officially confirmed he will line up for Omloop Het Nieuwsblad this Saturday, effectively turning what was supposed to be an open, tactical opener into a terrifying survival horror game for everyone else. After weeks of “will he, won’t he” speculation that felt suspiciously like a marketing campaign, Alpecin-Deceuninck dropped the news that the World Champion has finished his post-cyclocross hibernation, trained in the Spanish sun, and decided he is “race-ready.”
For the uninitiated, “race-ready” in Van der Poel speak usually means “ready to attack from 60 kilometers out just to see what happens.”
His presence immediately changes the entire molecular structure of the race. Team Visma, who were likely hoping to ease a fragile Wout van Aert back into the fold, now have to deal with their arch-nemesis at full power. The “outsiders” like Tom Pidcock and Arnaud De Lie, who were eyeing a podium spot, have effectively been demoted to passengers on the MVDP Express.
The team also confirmed his full spring menu, and it is a greatest hits collection: Omloop, Tirreno-Adriatico, Milano-Sanremo, E3, Gent-Wevelgem, Flanders, and Roubaix. But the real headline is simply this: The Holy Week didn’t wait for April. It starts Saturday. And if you aren’t Mathieu van der Poel, good luck.