{"id":509758,"date":"2026-02-28T13:29:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T13:29:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/509758\/"},"modified":"2026-02-28T13:29:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-28T13:29:09","slug":"mathieu-van-der-poel-on-omloop-het-nieuwsblad-hard-to-make-a-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/509758\/","title":{"rendered":"Mathieu van der Poel on Omloop Het Nieuwsblad: \u2018Hard to make a difference\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>All eyes are on Mathieu van der Poel as he opens his season at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. The Dutch star starts as the clear favourite, but before the race, he told <a href=\"https:\/\/sporza.be\/nl\/2026\/02\/28\/-moeilijk-om-het-verschil-te-maken-topfavoriet-mathieu-van-der-poel-houdt-rekening-met-sprinttroeven-in-de-ploeg~1772271295799\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sporza<\/a> it\u2019s hardly a sure thing that he can take off on one of the cobbled climbs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat may be saying a lot,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you look at the Omloop, it\u2019s hard to make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The race, known for its selective finale, does not always allow for early heroics. According to Van der Poel, timing will be everything. \u201cIt\u2019s tricky to open the race before the Muur,\u201d he said. \u201cThe wind plays a bit with us today, but it\u2019s not always favourable. We have to pay attention. Just like all the Classics.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While many expect him to attack, Van der Poel reminded the media he is not the team\u2019s only option. Alpecin-Premier Tech has the fastman duo of Jasper Philipsen and Kaden Groves. \u201cYou can go alone. That\u2019s happened before,\u201d he says. \u201cBut we have Jasper and Kaden for the sprint. That\u2019s an asset.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Philipsen, however, says van der Poel is still the dude for the day. \u201cMathieu is our leader today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA bunch sprint would be nice, but there are other scenarios possible.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cyclingmagazine.ca\/sections\/news\/9-months-later-mara-roldan-races-again\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">9 months later, Mara Roldan races again<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>One Canadian is racing Saturday, NSN Cycling\u2019s Guillaume Boivin. On Sunday, however, he will be one of two: Nick Zukowsky of Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team will race <a href=\"https:\/\/cyclingmagazine.ca\/sections\/news\/van-der-poel-to-kuurne-brussels-kuurne\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kuurne\u2013Brussels\u2013Kuurne<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In the women\u2019s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, however, there\u2019s a large Canadian contingent.<br \/>Alison Jackson (St Michel \u2013 Preference Home \u2013 Auber93), Alexandra Volstad (EF Education-Oatly), Kiara Lylyk (Mayenne Monbana My Pie) and Mara Roldan (Team Picnic PostNL) are there.<\/p>\n<p>This is Roldan\u2019s first race back after a long recovery falling a brutal crash at the Tour of Britain. They\u2019re joined by Katja Verkerk (Minimax Cycling Team), Emilie Fortin (Minimax Cycling Team) and Maggie Coles-Lyster (Human Powered Health).<\/p>\n<p>Check back on Canadian Cycling Magazine for a full report after!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All eyes are on Mathieu van der Poel as he opens his season at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509759,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[253851,64,63,784,77973,85],"class_list":["post-509758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-2026-omloop-het-nieuwsblad","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cycling","tag-mathieu-van-der-poel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}