The top favourites for the upcoming Road World Championships in Canada have all taken varied routes to Montreal, with a host of preparation races – including the Vuelta a España, the GPs de Montréal and Québec, and the men's and women's Tours of Britain – to choose from.
Few of the big names have chosen the relatively low-key surroundings of the Tour de Luxembourg for their main build-up race, though 2023 world champion Mathieu van der Poel is heading to one of Europe's smallest countries to put the finishing touches on his Worlds prep.
The five-day ProSeries race doesn't carry a reputation as a key stop en route to the rainbow jersey. However, it does attract several major names each year – including last year's fourth-place finisher in Kigali, Mattias Skjelmose, and Van der Poel himself in 2023, a week before his bronze medal in Zurich.
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Speaking ahead of this year's opener, a hilly 157.5km stage, Van der Poel said that he has "good memories" of the race, where he won the opening stage before finishing second overall two years ago.
"I have good memories of the Tour de Luxembourg from two years ago. I won a stage, came close a few more times and finished second overall," he said.
"More importantly, I had a good World Championships in Zurich afterwards, which showed that this race was a very good final preparation."
The race marks Van der Poel's first action on the road since his thrilling ride to glory on the Champs-Elysées on the final day of the Tour de France.
In the interim, he's been on his mountain bike, racing to second at the UCI World Cup round in Les Gets before taking on the MTB World Championships, where he finished 30th.
Van der Poel said the 701km of racing in Luxembourg this week will help him rediscover the rhythm of road racing ahead of the 273.2km race in Montreal, held on Sunday, September 27.
"I feel it can serve the same purpose this year ahead of the Worlds in Canada. After my mountain bike block, I can definitely use some race rhythm and competitive kilometres on the road. That is the main goal for me here," he said.
Van der Poel is the standout rider on the startlist in Luxembourg. Other notable names lining up for the race include Davide Piganzoli (Visma-Lease a Bike), Tao Geoghegan Hart (Lidl-Trek), Igor Arrieta (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Aurélien Paret-Peintre (Decathlon CMA CGM), and Soudal-QuickStep duo Jasper Stuyven and Dylan van Baarle.
He said he'd be happy to come away from the week with another stage win on the way to Worlds.
"Of course, if there is an opportunity to fight for a stage win, I will take it. A victory would be a nice bonus and could also give me some extra confidence before travelling to Canada."
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