Alpecin-Fenix is also eyeing green at the Tour
Think Wout is a shoo-in for green? MVDP and Alpecin-Fenix would like a word
Less than a week after Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) told Het Laatste Nieuws that he had his eye on the green jersey of the Tour de France, Alpecin-Fenix managers Christoph and Philip Roodhooft have said that they, too, have the points classification at the French Grand Tour on their minds.
“When I hear Van Aert say that he is going for the green jersey, I think: ‘We’ll see about that for a while,’” Christoph Roodhooft said at the Kristallen Fiets awards, where the brothers shared the honor of being named managers of the year, as Het Laatste Nieuws reports.
“If everything goes somewhat normal, that is a very realistic target for us. I think of Jasper Philipsen. Or to Mathieu van der Poel.”
Van der Poel made his Tour debut this past June, promptly winning a stage on the second day of the race and then spending six days in the yellow jersey. He pulled out of the Tour after stage 8 to focus on his Olympic goals. Philipsen, meanwhile, racked up six top three finishes over the course of the Tour and finished fourth in the final points standings.
Taking on a motivated Van Aert in a battle for green would undoubtedly be a serious challenge for any rival, considering the Belgian’s ability to rack up points not only in the sprints, but even in the time trials and mountain stages – but the Roodhooft brothers see potential in their own lineup. Van der Poel himself has not been vocal about an interest in the points classification, specifying other objectives as his targets for next year, but his team managers are nonetheless confident that he has what it takes.
As Philip Roodhooft put it: “Mathieu is the perfect rider to win the green jersey.”
What’s more, Alpecin-Fenix has proven more than capable over the past two seasons of punching well above its weight as a second-division team. The Belgian squad was the highest ranked ProTeam by a huge margin for the second year running this season and compiled more UCI points than more than half of the teams racing at the WorldTour level.
That kind of success doesn’t come about by mere chance – and it probably contributed to the Roodhooft brothers being honored for their accomplishments at the Kristallen Fiets awards.
“It is an acknowledgment and a culmination of something we have been working on together for fifteen years,” Philip Roodhooft said. “It has not always been obvious and easy. The fact that we are now also being celebrated together makes it special.”
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