Mathieu van der Poel’s madcap attacks are prep for Tour de France – Adam Blythe on Giro d’Italia carnage

Mathieu van der Poel’s one-man madcap attacks at the Giro d’Italia are laying the foundations for an assault on the Tour de France, predicts Eurosport expert Adam Blythe. Fans of the Giro have become accustomed to shots of Van der Poel hunched over his handlebars at the front of a breakaway, with the Alpecin-Fenix rider making a series of moves that could be filed under ‘unusual’. Ad/> The Dutchman went back on the offensive on Stage 17 as he broke clear of the day’s break along with Gijs Leemreize (Jumbo-Visma) on a steep mountain descent – almost coming a cropper after overcooking a corner.

Giro d'Italia‘One of the moments of the season’ – Watch van der Poel’s wild save on scary descent4 HOURS AGO Another attack on the final Cat. 1 climb took the 27-year-old clear of Leemreize as an improbable stage win beckoned, only for him to blow up as his compatriot, and then eventual stage winner Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious), swept by. With the stage profile appearing to favour other riders due to the long climbs, Blythe wondered if Van der Poel might be using the Giro as an acid test to see how his body responds to unforgiving situations.

“He’s been in the break a lot of times now. I think this is a bigger picture thing because normally with Van der Poel it’s like: ‘done that, onto the next one, done that, onto the next one’,” said Blythe on The Breakaway. “He’s always got goals.

He’s obviously trying to win stages but I think if he’s still here at this point in the race, pushing himself every day, this is for something bigger after it. “It’s got to be for the Tour de France. And I think every time he’s doing it [attacking] he’s getting better and better.” Giro d'Italia GC standings 'The pain grew worse and worse' —