Mathieu Van der Pol (Alpecin-Desseuninck), the favorite on the cobbled fifth stage of the Tour de France, is hoping to win the yellow jersey on Wednesday's rough cobbled stage between Lille Métropole and the Arenberg Porte du Hainaut in the overall He said he hopes to regain enough time in the standings.

"I hope that a lot is possible in the Roubaix stage the day after tomorrow," van der Pol said in a rest day interview with Sporza on Monday.

"I want to find my good legs. Whether you have your sights set on the cobblestone stages. "It's very important, but it has to be right for me and I can take my chances there.

Van der Pol finished third in Paris-Roubaix in 2021 and ninth in the competition this April.

Stage 5 will feature 11 sectors of 17 km of pavé, ranging from two to four stars. Four of the last five sectors were part of the Paris-Roubaix in April.

"There is still a lot of potential in yellow; within a minute everyone has a chance. I try to go for a run anyway, but 20" is not much for a Roubaix stage."

At the end of Sunday's Danish Grande Parle, Van der Pol was in fifth place, 20 seconds behind overall leader Wout Van Aert (Jumbo Visma).

Despite missing out on the win, Van der Pol showed promise in the first three stages, finishing 5th in the opening time trial, 19th in the second stage, and 25th in the third stage.

He claimed that the sprint stages in Denmark were more suited to his teammate, Jasper Philipsen.

"With the exception of the prologue, we were in Denmark for Jasper Philipsen. Van der Pol said.

The Tour de France has a rest day on Mondays. Van der Pol said that after only three days of racing, the rest day had broken his rhythm a bit.

"You lose your rhythm very quickly, but I'm not sad about it. I suffer enough," he said.

The 219.9 km from Binche to Longwy in stage 6 is suited for both himself and Philipsen.

"Jasper proved yesterday that he is in good shape. We will see how he feels on Thursday and then we will decide."