Mathieu van der Poel can start in the Italian classics Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo in March following the announcement that his Alpecin-Fenix team received wildcards for both events yesterday.
The Strade Bianche, also known as Europe’s southernmost northern classic, takes place in Siena on March 7.
Milan-San Remo is one of the five Monuments of cycling and takes place between Milan and San Remo, in north-west Italy, on March 21. Its 298km distance makes it the longest professional one-day race.
Mathieu van der Poel pictured after he won stage four of the Tour of Britain in Kendal last year. Photo: ARN/Gautier Demouveaux
At their team presentation earlier this month, Dutchman Van der Poel announced that his racing calendar would partly depend on the wildcards they may or may not receive.
The Belgian outfit also submitted a request for the Tirreno-Adriatico (March 11 to 17), but ultimately received a wildcard for two of the three races.
“The RCS [MediaGroup] is struggling with the fact that they don’t have many wildcards,” said team manager Christoph Roodhooft at the team presentation.
“If we get a wildcard for the Tirreno, we take Mathieu with us. If not, he will go to training camp.”
The 24-year-old Van der Poel, who is also a world cyclo-cross champion and European mountain bike champion, greatly impressed last year on the road when he won the Tour of Britain, Grand Prix de Denain, Dwars door Vlaanderen, Brabantse Pijl and Amstel Gold Race.
