“It’s Not Pleasant, But It’s Very Effective”: Van der Poel’s Coach Reveals the Brutal New Training Method Behind Yellow Jersey Success
As the 2025 Tour de France rages on, one name continues to dominate headlines and podiums alike: Mathieu van der Poel. The Dutch sensation, long known for his explosive power and technical mastery, has stunned fans and rivals alike by not only claiming stage wins but also wearing the yellow jersey deep into the race — a feat many thought improbable just a few seasons ago.
While Van der Poel’s natural talent is undisputed, many have been left wondering: What changed? How did one of cycling’s most dynamic one-day racers suddenly evolve into a serious general classification (GC) contender? The answer, according to his long-time coach Kristof de Kegel, lies in a new, grueling training regime that Van der Poel embraced earlier this year.
“It’s not pleasant,” De Kegel admitted in a recent interview. “But it’s very effective. And Mathieu committed to it 100 percent.”
From Explosive to Enduring
Historically, Van der Poel has built his career on explosive bursts of power, short anaerobic efforts, and supreme technical skills honed through cyclocross and classics racing. But for success in a three-week Grand Tour like the Tour de France — where high mountains, time trials, and sustained efforts are the norm — a different type of conditioning is required.
To meet this challenge, De Kegel designed what he calls a “fatigue-resistance endurance block,” a brutally tough program that emphasizes long, steady-state efforts in a glycogen-depleted state, mixed with high-intensity intervals while already fatigued.
“This type of training teaches the body to work under extreme duress,” De Kegel explained. “We trained Mathieu to perform after six hours in the saddle, not just for one explosive attack. That’s what you need in the Tour — consistency over three weeks.”
Inside the Pain Cave: What the Program Looks Like
The training block, which began back in February, centered around several key elements:
- Back-to-back six-hour rides, often starting early in the morning and finishing mid-afternoon, designed to simulate the fatigue of Tour stages and build muscular endurance.
- “Sleep-low” strategies, where Van der Poel would deplete carbohydrate stores with a hard evening session, then sleep without replenishing — followed by a fasted morning ride to force adaptation.
- Altitude camps in the Sierra Nevada mountains, where he lived and trained for over three weeks, often alone or with a small support team, to build red blood cell count and VO2 max.
- Block periodization, where hard efforts were grouped together for three or four consecutive days — followed by full recovery — to push adaptation more aggressively.
One of the hardest sessions, De Kegel said, involved a 200km endurance ride followed by five 6-minute intervals at threshold with minimal rest — a session they dubbed “The Hammer.”
“He hated it,” De Kegel said, laughing. “But he never complained. He just did the work.”
The Mental Transformation
Equally important, according to the coaching staff, was Van der Poel’s mental evolution. Long considered a showman who preferred to race instinctively, he had to learn patience, restraint, and pacing — especially in the mountains.
“We worked a lot on race simulation,” De Kegel said. “We’d put him in situations where he had to follow wheels instead of attacking, conserve energy instead of showing off. It was a big shift, but he embraced it.”
Sports psychologist Annemiek Vos, who joined Van der Poel’s team this season, also worked closely with him on visualization techniques and emotional control.
“He’s incredibly self-aware,” Vos said. “He knows what his limits are, and now he knows how to push past them without losing control. That’s what makes a GC contender.”
Results That Speak for Themselves
The results of the new training have been astonishing. Van der Poel entered the Tour in peak form, won Stage 4 in emphatic style with a solo breakaway, and defended yellow through the Alps — a terrain once considered his Achilles’ heel.
He sits comfortably in the top 3 of the general classification, and his performance in the Stage 13 time trial — where he finished ahead of pure specialists — has silenced any lingering doubts.
“He’s not just here to entertain anymore,” said former Tour winner Alberto Contador during Eurosport coverage. “He’s here to win.”
Not a GC Rider? Not Anymore.
For years, Van der Poel resisted suggestions that he should pursue the yellow jersey. His heart seemed tied to one-day races like the Tour of Flanders or Milan-San Remo. But his transformation in 2025 has fans — and even rivals — rethinking his ceiling.
“He’s become the complete rider,” said UAE Team Emirates’ director Joxean Matxin. “The classics, the sprints, the climbs — he’s dangerous everywhere now.”
De Kegel agrees but remains cautious.
“The work isn’t over,” he said. “There are still a lot of hard days left. But what we’ve seen so far? It’s the reward for months of brutal training and total commitment.”
A New Era for Van der Poel
Whether or not Van der Poel finishes the Tour in yellow, one thing is clear: he has redefined what’s possible, not just for himself, but for an entire generation of riders who once saw the GC as a distant dream for all-rounders.
As his coach put it best:
“It’s not easy. It’s not glamorous. But it works. And Mathieu proved he’s willing to suffer to be great.”
With the Tour’s final week approaching, don’t bet against the man who conquered the classics — and now just might conquer France.
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