Opinion: Mathieu Van der Poel is still some way short of his best and that should terrify his rivals

It is three weeks since Mathieu Van der Poel returned to racing after several months out with knee and back injuries. After so long away, he and his Alpecin-Fenix employers thought it wise to ease him in with a mere Monument. As you do.

At that race, Milan-Sanremo for those who need reminding, Van der Poel finished third. Two weeks ago Van der Poel was finishing off his first stage race of the season, Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali, from which he took just the one win. Ad/> Last Sunday at De Ronde, 48 hours after having comprehensively vanquished all comers at Dwars door Vlaanderen, he broke away with Tadej Pogacar, faffed around a bit in the finale, got caught, and still comfortably finished off the sprint.

/> Amstel Gold RaceHighlights: A thrilling conclusion to the end of a fascinating men's Amstel Gold race5 HOURS AGO Today, in Amstel Gold Race, Van der Poel could “manage” no better than fourth place. The odds-on favourite before the race, that status only worked against him, as the Dutchman found himself trapped in the favourite box. Isolated by the greater team firepower and superior tactics of Ineos, he found himself obliged to do everything or nothing.

“I didn’t have the legs to react to everybody,” he said after the race, “so I just gambled, and it didn’t work out today.” You read that correctly. When Mathieu van der Poel doesn’t have the legs, in one of the highest ranked, hardest, and longest one-day races on the calendar, he still finishes fourth. (By the way, in the same interview Van der Poel modestly suggested that the Amstel Gold Race course is not one to which he is not particularly suited.) Kwiatkowski wins Amstel Gold after more finish line confusion and drama Cavalli pounces on napping SD